For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 4, 2004
President's Remarks at an Ask President Bush Event in Clive, Iowa
7 Flags Event Center
Clive, Iowa
12:21 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thanks for
being here. Please be seated; we've got to get started. I've got some
things I want to tell you.
First thing I'm going to tell you is I'm here asking for the vote
in Clive, Iowa. (Applause.) I'm enjoying this campaign. It gives me
a chance to get out among the people and tell people what I believe and
where I stand and where I'm going to lead this country for the next
four years. I'm here also to ask for your help. There's no doubt in
my mind, with your help we'll carry Iowa and win a great victory in
November. (Applause.) Thank you all.
They tell me I'm the first sitting President ever to visit Clive.
(Applause.) I don't know what took all the other ones so long to get
here -- (laughter) -- but thanks for being here. I wish Laura were
here. (Applause.) Imagine this conversation: Will you marry me?
Fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech. (Laughter.) I
said, okay. (Laughter.) Fortunately, she didn't hold me to the
promise, because when people see Laura they see a strong,
compassionate, fine, fine First Lady. (Applause.) I think in the
course of the campaign you have to tell people why they should vote for
you, that's what I'm here to do. But perhaps the most important reason
of all is so that Laura will be the First Lady for four more years.
(Applause.)
Today, I'm going to talk to some of your fellow citizens about why
our policies make sense, and I'd like to answer some questions if you
have some. Before I do that, I do want to introduce some people
traveling with me. First, I do want to thank the next congressman from
the 3rd congressional district, Stan Thompson. He's a good member, I
hope you put him in office. (Applause.) I'm here to tell you he ought
to be the next United States Congressman. (Applause.)
I appreciate members of the U.S. Congress from the Iowa delegation
for coming. From the east side of the state, Jim Nussle and Jim Leach,
two really fine friends. And I appreciate you all being here.
(Applause.) Thanks for coming. Leach is a longtime member, one of the
most decent men you'll ever meet. Chairman Nussle is the chairman of
the Budget committee, making sure that the Iowa taxpayers' monies is
well-spent in Washington.
I also want to thank Tom Latham, from northwest Iowa, for being
here today. Congressman, thanks for coming. Proud you're here.
(Applause.) And I just signed an important piece of legislation making
a lot of the tax relief -- extending a lot of the tax relief for five
years. And I was able to stand on stage with the Chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley. (Applause.) He's a good
man. He went back to Washington. I told him if he'd suffer through
one of my speeches, I'd give him a ride back. (Laughter.) But he's
frugal. (Laughter.) I also told the people, I said, I'm really
getting to be good friends with Chuck Grassley, for a reason. The
south lawn of the White House -- (laughter) -- is mighty big, and we're
looking for a good mower. (Laughter and applause.)
I want to thank the state auditor, David Vaudt, for being here. I
appreciate you coming, David. I want to thank the Senate President
Lamberti, as well as my friend Stew Iverson, the Majority Leader.
Thank you all for coming. Good to see you all. Big Stew, looking
good. (Applause.) Stew has got that same hair style as the Vice
President. (Laughter.)
By the way, I didn't pick the Vice President because of his hair.
(Laughter.) I picked him because he's a man of great judgment,
wonderful experience, a guy who can get the job done for the American
people. (Applause.)
I want to thank David Roederer, the chairman of the Bush/Cheney
campaign. I want to thank all the grassroots activists, the people
putting up the signs and making the phone calls and registering the
voters. I can't thank you enough for what you're going to do, which is
to work as we're coming down the stretch. (Applause.) It really means
a lot. It really means a lot.
I'm running because I want this country to be a safer country and a
more hopeful country. I understand that we're living in changing
times, and the institutions of government must change with those
times. See, my philosophy of government is that government ought to
help people realize the great opportunities of our country, not tell
you how to live your lives. (Applause.) There's a fundamental
difference in this campaign about government philosophy.
When I say "changing institutions," I'm talking about the labor
laws need to change with the times. Think about this fact: 30 years
ago, most women stayed at home; today, most women are working inside
the house and outside the house, yet, the labor laws reflect yesterday,
not tomorrow. I believe the labor laws ought to change and have
flex-time for workers, so that they can better manage their families
and their work loads. (Applause.)
The retirement systems were designed for yesterday. I believe they
ought to be designed for tomorrow. Let me tell you about my plans for
Social Security. First of all, you might remember the campaign in 2000
-- Latham reminded me of it. When they were running they said, if
George W. gets elected, he's going to take away your Social Security
check. Remember those ads? Well, you remind your friends and
neighbors you got your check. (Applause.) That's the same old stale
political rhetoric. (Applause.) You'll hear it again this time, too.
And baby-boomers, we're in good shape when it comes to Social
Security. But it's the youngsters who have to pay for the baby-boomers
retirement we better worry about. That's why I believe we ought to
allow young workers to take some of their own tax money and set up a
personal savings account that will earn better interest in the Social
Security trust today, so they can be able to more likely get the
benefits of the Social Security system; a personal savings account they
call their own; a personal savings account they can pass on to their
kids or grandkids; and a personal savings account that the government
will not take away. (Applause.)
We've got to make sure that our worker training programs work.
They were designed for yesterday. They need to be designed for
tomorrow. Listen, in this changing world of ours, it requires --
oftentimes requires new skills. These jobs are new jobs, the jobs of
the 21st century. Just look at the health care industry. It's a
booming part of our economy; yet, oftentimes, people don't have the
skills necessary to fill those jobs. So one of the things government
must do is make sure the Workforce Investment program works; make sure
there's access to our community college system; expand Pell grants and
expand government help for workers.
This is the kind of thing that is necessary to make sure people
have the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. And do
you realize that most new jobs in America now require at least two
years of college; yet, one in four of our students gets there? And
that's why it's essential we keep working on No Child Left Behind, to
make sure every child has got the skills necessary to read and write
and add and subtract. (Applause.)
I'm looking forward to discussing No Child Left Behind with the
American people. You might remember there were times when they would
just move kids through school, grade after grade, year after year,
without teaching the basics. I don't think that's right. That's what
I call -- that's why I went to -- when I say I went to Washington to
challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, that's what I'm talking
about. Expectations were so low that they just moved kids through.
We've changed that. We're raising the bar. We believe in local
control of schools, but we're now saying, in return for increased
federal spending, measure. Show us whether or not a child can read.
Let's correct problems early, before it is too late.
We've got to stop this business about shuffling kids through
school, and we are. There's an achievement gap in America that's
beginning to close. But there's more to be done. I believe we ought
to have intermediate help programs for at-risk students in high
school. We ought to emphasize math and science. We ought to expand
Pell grants for low-and middle-income families. We want more of the
kids graduating from college being able to fill the jobs of the 21st
century. That's how you make sure this country is a hopeful place.
(Applause.)
In changing times, it helps to own something. It brings stability
to your life. I'm proud of the fact that home ownership rates are at
an all-time high in America under my administration. (Applause.) And
so we got plans to make sure home ownership is spread to every corner
of America.
Speaking about ownership, it helps when somebody owns their own
health care account in changing times. There's a big difference of
opinion about health care in this campaign. I believe the decisions
ought to be made by you and your doctor. My opponent believes that the
federal government ought to be making your decisions.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. That's what I call -- he's got a system
that's creeping toward "Hillary Care." (Laughter and applause.)
I got a common-sense, practical way of making sure health care is
available and affordable. I'm a big believer in community health
centers. That's where the poor and the indigent can get primary and
preventative care. I believe every poor county in America ought to
have a community health center to make sure health care is available
for people. I believe we ought to make sure that the children's health
care program for low-income families is fully subscribed.
To make sure health care is affordable, I want to help the small
businesses afford health care. Do you realize 50 percent of the
uninsured today work for small businesses? Small businesses are having
trouble affording health care. I believe they ought to be allowed to
pool risk with other small businesses so they can afford insurance at
the same discount big businesses get. (Applause.)
I believe in health savings accounts: individualized health
savings accounts that provide for catastrophic care, and tax-free
savings for routine medical costs. It's a plan that you own. When you
change jobs, or if you change jobs, you take your health care with your
-- with wherever you go. These are innovative, common-sense ways to
make sure that health care is available and affordable.
I'll tell you another thing we need to do about health care costs.
We got to do something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running
up the costs on small businesses. (Applause.) You cannot be
pro-doctor, pro-patient, and pro-trial lawyer at the same time.
(Laughter.) I think you have to choose. My opponent made his choice,
and he put a trial lawyer on the ticket. I made my choice: I'm for
medical liability reform -- now. (Applause.)
Let me talk about Medicare right quick. I went to Washington to
fix problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents. I thought
Medicare needed to be fixed. It's a very important program. Yet, as
medicine modernized, Medicare was not modernizing with it. And I'll
give you an example. Medicare would pay $100,000 or so for heart
surgery, but not one dime for the prescription drugs that would prevent
the heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That didn't
make any sense for our seniors. It did not make any sense for the
taxpayers. So I worked with Democrats and Republicans to modernize
Medicare. And starting in 2006, our seniors will get a prescription
drug benefit in Medicare. (Applause.) And today our seniors can sign
up for a drug discount card; 4.4 million seniors have done so, in order
to derive substantial savings at their local pharmacies.
We're making a difference when it comes to health care. But all we
do to make sure health care is available and affordable, we'll make
sure the decision making is between patient and doctor, not between
bureaucrats in the nation's capital. (Applause.)
It's important to make sure America is a hopeful place, by growing
our economy. I want you to tell your friends and neighbors and remind
them what we have been through. The stock market was in significant
decline prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C. That was an indicator
that something was taking place in the economy, and, sure enough, we
had a recession. And the recession hurt us, but so did the corporate
scandals. You know, our economy is based upon trust. And when some of
our citizens didn't tell the truth, it shook our confidence and hurt
our economy. We passed tough laws and that made it abundantly clear
that we're not going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of
America. (Applause.)
And then the attacks hurt us. And then we got attacked. On
September the 11th, 2001, our nation was brutally attacked, and those
attacks cost us a million jobs during the three months after September
the 11th. Think about what we've been through as an economy:
recession, attack, corporate scandal. And, yet, the economy is strong
and it's getting strong. It's growing at rates as fast as nearly in
any 20 years. Your great state of Iowa has got a farm economy that's
really strong. Unemployment rate in this state is 4.5 percent. The
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent -- lower than the average of
the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (Applause.)
And people say, how did it happen? How did we get out of this
recession so quickly? One reason is we've got great workers.
Secondly, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America. More and
more people are owning their own small business. Thirdly, we had
well-timed tax cuts. (Applause.) Those tax cuts left more money in
the hands who earned it. People had more money to spend. (Applause.)
The tax cuts also helped to stimulate the job creators. Not only
did we help to stimulate demand, but we helped to stimulate the job
creators. See, 70 percent of new jobs in America are created by small
business owners. Ninety percent of small businesses pay tax at the
individual income tax rate, because they're either subchapter-S
corporation or a sole proprietorship -- those are legal terms which
basically mean they pay an individual income tax. And so when you cut
individual income taxes on everybody who pays taxes, you're really
helping our small businesses. And when you help the small businesses,
you help the job creators. And when you help the job creators,
somebody is more likely to find work. We've added 1.7 million jobs
since August of 2003. The tax relief plan is making a difference.
(Applause.)
And there's a difference in taxes in this campaign. There's a big
difference. I've lowered taxes and my opponent wants to raise taxes.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You may have noticed, he changes positions quite
frequently. (Laughter.) But not on taxes. (Laughter.) During his 20
years in the Senate, he's voted to raise your taxes 98 times.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Now, all of a sudden, he's saying, well, he's for a
middle class tax relief. Except he voted against raising the child
credit. He voted against reducing the marriage penalty. He voted
against creating a 10 percent bracket, which helps low-income
Americans. Plus, he's proposed $2.2 trillion in new federal spending.
And so how -- he said -- they asked him, how are you going to pay for
it? And he said, oh, I'll just tax the rich. We've heard that before,
haven't we?
Well, I want you to remember one thing. We're about to talk to a
business owner that will be affected by the so-called tax-the-rich
policy. If most small businesses pay individual income taxes, and you
raise the top two brackets, you're taxing job creators. And that's bad
economic policy, to be taxing the people who are creating the new
jobs. If you want more jobs, you keep people's taxes low, not run them
up. (Applause.)
If you propose $2.2 trillion, and you only raise a little over $600
billion by raising the top two brackets, there's a gap. (Laughter.)
Two-point-two trillion in spending, a little over $600 billion in
revenues raised, means you've got to fill the hole. You've got to find
additional taxes if you're going to fulfill your promises. And guess
who ends up paying? Every time somebody out of Washington makes the
promises and falls short of being able to raise the revenues, they're
going to tax the middle class every singe time, aren't they?
Let me tell you one other problem he has with that. He says, oh,
I'm just going to tax the rich. Well, the rich hire lawyers and
accountants for a reason -- that's to stick you with the tab. But
we're not going to let him tax you, we're going to carry Iowa and the
country in November. (Applause.)
A couple other points I want to make and then I -- then I want to
talk to some of our citizens. It's one thing to have overcome
obstacles and get the economy growing, the fundamental question is,
what do you intend to do to keep it growing? Now that we're on the
track to recovery, how do you make sure the recovery is lasting? Here
are some ideas for you.
In order to make sure jobs stay here in America, America must be
the best place in the world to do business. That means less
regulations. My opponent's plan is increase regulations. I believe in
providing regulatory relief. If you want to keep jobs here in America,
there needs to be fewer frivolous lawsuits that make it hard for
employers to expand the job base. (Applause.) If we want to keep jobs
here in America, Congress needs to pass my energy plan. You can't have
a growing economy unless we have a reasonable energy plan, an energy
plan that encourages conservation, that provides money for research and
development, so that we can develop alternative sources of energy; an
energy plan that relies upon ethanol and biodiesel to help us become
less dependant on foreign sources of energy -- (applause) -- an energy
plan that uses technology so we can burn the coal of our country; an
energy plan which encourages the aspiration for natural gas in
environmentally friendly ways. To keep jobs here we must become less
dependant on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
To keep jobs here we've got to open up markets. One reason Iowa's
farmers are doing so well -- I fulfilled a promise. I said: If you let
me be President I'll work to make sure you can sell your crops anywhere
in the world; and it's making a difference. We're selling a lot of soy
beans to China. (Applause.) And that's the task of the President.
See, you'll hear some talk about, you know, reviewing trade
agreements. That's really kind of hinting about economic
isolationism. That makes no sense for Iowa workers, and farmers, and
small business owners. It makes no sense to wall ourselves off from
the world. What we ought to be doing is opening up markets. We've
opened up our markets for foreign goods and it's good for you. If
you've got more products to choose from, you're likely to get what you
want at a better price and higher quality, that's how the market
works. So what the President ought to be doing is what I'm doing,
which is saying: China, you treat us the way we treat you. Saying to
the world: Open up your markets the way we've opened up our markets.
And I'm saying that with confidence because I know we can compete with
anybody, anytime, anywhere so long as the rules are fair. (Applause.)
One thing I forgot to mention about the Medicare Plan that Chuck
and I worked on, along with the members of Congress, is that we
understood under Medicare Iowa's hospitals weren't being treated
fairly. I remember that clearly when I campaigned here in 2000. When
I was knocking on doors I can remember a lot of the citizens here were
saying, now, if you get up there do something about the rural
hospitals, make sure Iowa's hospitals are treated fairly. I
delivered. So did Chuck Grassley, so did these members of Congress.
Iowa's hospitals are being treated fairly under the new Medicare law.
(Applause.)
In order to make sure this economy grows we've got to keep people's
taxes low. We need to make sure the tax relief we pass is permanent.
Today, I singed a piece of legislation that extended the child credit,
marriage penalty and the 10 percent bracket for five more years.
(Applause.)
And we're about to talk to a family -- Bobbi and Ricardo Ramirez
are with us. Thanks for coming. I've asked them to join us because I
want you to hear their story. You know a lot of times politicians
talk, or economists talk about tax relief this, tax relief that -- but
I always think it's good to put a face on it, let people know exactly
what the tax relief has meant. What do you do? What do you all do?
MRS. RAMIREZ: My husband works for Knapp Properties, he's a
residential maintenance worker, and I'm a stay at home mother.
THE PRESIDENT: Very good. And how many kids we got?
MRS. RAMIREZ: We have three girls.
THE PRESIDENT: There they are. Hi, girls. Good to see you.
Thanks for coming. (Applause.) And so tax relief?
MRS. RAMIREZ: Tax relief has been a huge blessing for us.
THE PRESIDENT: How much did you save?
MRS. RAMIREZ: We saved about $1,700. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. That's probably not a lot when you're working
up in Washington -- (laughter) -- it's a lot for this family. It's
their money to begin with. (Applause.)
What did you do? What did you do with the money?
MRS. RAMIREZ: We were able to use the money mostly for our
children, to be able to get them school clothes, and school supplies
and extra curricular activities that maybe we normally would not have
been able to do, like softball and dancing and things like that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. They were able to use the money so they could
do their job as a mom and dad. When you think about it -- (applause)
-- they were able to fulfill -- begin to fill ambitions for their
family. (Applause.) That's what tax relief means. It not only helps
the economy -- just remember they said, we were able to go out and buy
some school supplies. Well, when somebody shows up to buy school
supplies, it means somebody has got to make those school supplies.
Somebody makes them, somebody is going to work. But, equally
importantly, these people with more money were able to begin to realize
dreams for their children. Tax relief was important.
You also did something with your home.
MRS. RAMIREZ: We did. We refinanced our home, and we were able to
-- in the amount that we saved for interest, we didn't raise our
monthly payment, but we were able to build on and put an addition onto
our home.
THE PRESIDENT: Right, and refinancing their home -- low interest
rate -- (applause.) Low interest rates, good fiscal policy meant they
were able to improve their home. Nothing better than hearing somebody
stand up and say, I'm improving my home; this is my piece of property.
(Applause.) That's what the American experience is all about, isn't
it? And tax relief helps. (Applause.)
Do you realize that had we not extended the tax relief, this good
family would have paid $600 additional in taxes last year -- next
year? See, that's $600. The fundamental question in this campaign is,
who do you want spending the people's money? Now, look, I think we
need to set priorities -- that's why I work with Chairman Nussle, to
set priorities. But I believe that after we fund our priorities, the
Ramirez family can spend their money better than the federal government
can. (Applause.)
I'd like to -- Jeff Henning is with us. Jeff, thanks for coming.
MR. HENNING: Good afternoon, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Straight out of Johnstown, Iowa. (Laughter.)
MR. HENNING: Close, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Good to have you.
MR. HENNING: You, too.
THE PRESIDENT: You run what?
MR. HENNING: Henning Construction Company.
THE PRESIDENT: Henning Construction Company. That's -- since your
name is Jeff Henning, I presume you own it.
MR. HENNING: Yes, I own the store. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's good. Did you start it?
MR. HENNING: My grandfather started it in 1924.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, fantastic. Isn't that interesting?
(Applause.) And so give me a sense of the business.
MR. HENNING: We are general contractors. As I say, we have four
generations. Our business and our customers have come to us as a
result of the tax bonus act, and said, we need to make investment, we
want to take advantage of this. Therefore, our business has grown by
60 percent this year.
THE PRESIDENT: See, what he's saying is, is that part of the tax
code incented small businesses to invest. If they invested, they got
tax relief. Investment means spend money. And so one of the things
they spent money on, I take it, was something you had to build.
MR. HENNING: That's correct. We build buildings and equipment for
our customers, and we had to make substantial investments, ourselves,
in order to equip those troops to do that work.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. So what did you buy?
MR. HENNING: We bought forklifts, equipment, trucks, vehicles --
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody had to make them. See, here's how the
economy works. Good tax policy says to Jeff or his customers, invest.
And when he invests, somebody has to make the product he buys. And so
it has a ripple effect. And we'd rather that ripple effect be done in
the private sector. That's what we're beginning to see in this
country.
Have you hired anybody?
MR. HENNING: Yes, we have. We've hired 56 people additional this
year --
THE PRESIDENT: This year? Yeah! (Applause.) All of them live in
Johnstown?
MR. HENNING: No, Mr. President, they're all over the United States
of America.
THE PRESIDENT: Really? This guy has got quite a far reach.
(Laughter.) He is a intercontinental businessman. (Laughter.) Let me
ask you this: You were talking to me about your concerns about the
death tax. Why?
MR. HENNING: Well, Mr. President, we just went through some estate
planning. We have two daughters in the business, and in order for us
to be able to pass this on, they would have to sell the business if
something happened if we didn't take care of it.
THE PRESIDENT: See, this is a problem in America, and we're about
to talk to a farmer who can relate to it, as well. But it's a problem
when you've got a family-owned business and the tax code forces you to
sell it. I think we need to simplify the tax code, and one way to
simplify it is to get rid of the death tax forever. (Applause.)
Good job. Oh, wait a minute. I got one other point. Hold on. I
got one other thing to tell you about this good man. He's an S corp.
That's one of those companies that pays taxes at the individual income
tax rate.
MR. HENNING: That's correct.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, I wasn't making it up. (Laughter.) And
so when you hear them say, tax the rich, think about Jeff. That's the
so-called rich. He hired 54 people this year. And I'm going to tell
you, when they start taking money out of employers' pockets like him,
he's going to be less likely to hire somebody. If we want to keep this
job -- this recovery growing and people being able to find work, we
should not be taxing Jeff Henning's company. We ought to be
encouraging his company to expand and grow. (Applause.)
And my opponent doesn't understand that. Either he doesn't
understand it, or he doesn't care, because he wants more money for the
federal government.
Let's talk to Craig Lang. Yarrabee Farms, straight out of
Brooklyn. And I'm talking Brooklyn, Iowa. (Laughter.)
MR. LANG: Yes, that's right.
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming.
MR. LANG: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Tell us about your farm.
MR. LANG: Well, I'm fifth generation farmer. My great-great
grandfather walked from Ohio to Brooklyn, Iowa back in 1860, and we've
had that farm in our family ever since. And we not only own it, we
also operate it.
THE PRESIDENT: That's good, yes. How's the farm economy?
MR. LANG: It's great. It was wonderful to hear you talk about
world trade -- in Iowa, 30 percent -- everything that the farmer
produces in Iowa is sold somewhere outside of our borders. It's just
absolutely important that we're competitive as farmers in the world
market, and your administration is allowing us to do that. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Actually, our administration is creating the
conditions for somebody who knows what they're doing to be able to
succeed. We can't make you succeed. That's up to you. (Applause.)
All we can do is create the conditions, the opportunity, by opening up
markets and have good tax policy. Did the tax policy help you?
MR. LANG: That's right, the reduction tax policy, the income
expensing, all those things have been very important this year. We've
had one of the best years -- my brother, my father, and myself. In
fact, it's been such a great year that we're -- right now we're working
with an attorney and CPA and --
THE PRESIDENT: That's a heck of a year if you've got to hire an
attorney. (Laughter.)
MR. LANG: -- to make sure that at the time of a death, that the
estate taxes aren't a burden on our family, so the next generation
beside me can have the opportunity to operate that farm, too.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, that's a problem, isn't it? Here's a
good man who is trying to figure out ways to pass his farm on, so he
has to hire a lawyer and an accountant to do it. And, again, this is
where the death tax makes a huge difference. And people got understand
out there listening that if you own a farm sometimes you don't have
much liquidity. And in order to pay the tax you actually have to sell
the farm in order to be able to pay the tax.
I hope that's an unintended consequence of the fellows who wrote
the death tax years ago, but it's a lousy consequence. And that's why
we got to get rid of this death tax, we want farms to stay family to
family if that's what the owners choose to do. We want people to make
decisions. (Applause.) I appreciate you.
Finally, Hank Evans is here. Hank, thanks for coming. We've got a
mic headed your way. You are the owner of?
MR. EVANS: AFGHAN Johnson Millwork Company.
THE PRESIDENT: And where are you? Des Moines -- right here.
MR. EVANS: We're in West Des Moines.
THE PRESIDENT: Very good, thanks for coming. What do you do?
MR. EVANS: We custom build architectural millwork and we build
things like teller lines, reception desks and nurses stations.
THE PRESIDENT: Really?
MR. EVANS: Store fixtures.
THE PRESIDENT: Must we doing well -- a lot of nurses.
MR. EVANS: It's been a good year, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: A couple of points that we want to talk about Hank
about is one, he's concerned about the health care costs of his
company, at least you told me you were backstage.
MR. EVANS: Yes, Mr. President, our health care has gone up about
20 percent on average over the last half dozen years. A number of
years ago, through the Association of Business and Industry, we had a
group health plan for all the members of that association, 2,000 of
them.
When the law changed we were no longer able to do that, and as a
result the level of health care we've been able to offer is not only
had the cost has gone up, but the quality has gone down. We would love
to see the ability for that association to again offer health care. It
would allow us hire and attract and keep better workers and offer them
a better plan.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Was this a health care association plan
just for Iowa?
MR. EVANS: It was, yes; the Iowa Association of Business and
Industry.
THE PRESIDENT: Basically what he's saying is -- and here is what
we're talking about, see -- a stand-alone purchaser of health, like
Hank, means he's not going to be able to afford a policy relative to
being able to have others bid with him. In other words, the more
people you have to spread risk, the lower the cost of your insurance is
going to be. That makes sense, doesn't it? And so if you're a smaller
business and stand-alone trying to purchase insurance in the
marketplace, it's going to be a lot higher than if you had others to
share the risk with you. And here in Iowa, evidently, you had the
capacity to do that, but law changed.
MR. EVANS: Yes, it did.
THE PRESIDENT: See, what I believe we need to do is let Hank and
his company pool with people not only in Iowa, but in other states.
The bigger the pool the less costly the insurance. But federal law
won't let us do that now. And my opponent doesn't want that to
happen. I think it makes sense to have it happen because I want Hank
making the health care decisions. I don't want there to be a great
federal pool -- (applause.)
He's done something else very interesting. Remember I was talking
about making sure the work force training programs work, actually mean
something. Explain what you've done. This is a fantastic story.
MR. EVANS: Well, trying to find cabinet makers is about like
trying to find hens teeth, Mr. President -- they're very scarce.
THE PRESIDENT: Really? (Laughter.)
MR. EVANS: We've had difficulty for years finding good workers.
So about three years ago we went to the local community college, DMAC,
up in Ackley, and we set up on an architectural mill worker training
program. It's a year-long program, we're training 16 kids a year now
to be architectural mill workers and cabinet makers.
THE PRESIDENT: Isn't that something? Community colleges are
great. (Applause.) I'll tell you something really interesting. Think
about the attractiveness of the community college system. Curriculum
change, if need be. In other words, if there's a demand for workers,
the community college can change curriculum, or adapt curriculum, or
come up with curriculum necessary to train those workers for the jobs
which actually exist. And all of a sudden, here you have an employer
that says, I'm going to be creative. I'm going to work with the local
education institute to help people get the skills necessary to actually
work.
In the old days, some of these worker training programs, they'd
train people for jobs which didn't exist. Now we got an opportunity to
train people for jobs which actually exist. And that's why I'm going
to ask Congress to spend $250 million to make sure industry-type
programs with community colleges are expanded. People want to work;
they don't have the skills sometimes. And we can do -- provide skills
in a creative way, just like Hank has done, so people can realize their
dreams here in this country. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming.
MR. EVANS: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I want you to know that in changing times, some
things don't change -- the values we try to live by: courage and
compassion, reverence and integrity. We stand for a culture of life in
which every person matters and every person counts. (Applause.) We
stand for marriage and family, which are the foundations of our
society. (Applause.) And we stand for judges who know the difference
between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.
(Applause.)
Okay, a couple of other points. I got some other things I got to
tell you. I just saw somebody stand up with an "Army Wife for Bush"
shirt. I'm going to talk about -- (applause.) Thank you. That's what
I want to talk about, a safer America. My most solemn duty is to
protect you. My most solemn obligation as the President is to do
everything in our power to prevent harm to the American people.
You know, as I was campaigning here in 2000, I never dreamt that
we'd be attacked the way we were. Nobody asked for this attack in
America. But since they came, we're going to deal with it. I want to
share some thoughts with you. Let me share some thoughts with you.
(Applause.)
Let me share some thoughts with you about what I have learned and
what I hope the country has learned. First of all, we're dealing with
a -- with an enemy that has no conscience. Today, if you noticed,
there was a car bomb near a school. These people are brutal. They --
they're the exact opposite of Americans. We value life and human
dignity; they don't care about life and human dignity. We believe in
freedom; they have an ideology of hate. And they're tough, but not as
tough as America. (Applause.) It's really important for people to
understand you cannot negotiate with these people, you cannot hope for
the best. We must -- we must chase them down all around the world, so
we do not have to face them here at home. That's lesson number one, be
relentless and determined, never yield. (Applause.)
Secondly, that this is a different kind of war that requires a
different kind of strategy. And it's really important for you to
realize that these people -- their ambition is beyond just a single
attack. Their ambition is to take over countries from which they can
spread their ideology of hate. That's why they were in Afghanistan.
They're like a parasite, hopefully being able to overcome a weak host.
And they were in the process of doing that.
And so I laid out a doctrine that said, if you harbor a terrorist,
you're equally as guilty as the terrorist. Now, when the President
says something, I believe the President must speak clearly, and when he
says something, must mean what he says. I meant what I said
(Applause.) And thanks to our military, the Taliban got routed.
Now, let me tell you about the Taliban. Their vision was so dark
that many young girls were not allowed to go to school. It's hard for
people in America to imagine that, but that's the way it was. And if
their mothers, or if the women of that country didn't toe the line,
they'd be taken out into the public square and whipped, or killed.
These people were barbarians. And by routing them out, by toppling
their government, not only did we deny al Qaeda a safe haven, but we
have liberated people.
And I want you to hear this statistic. I think it's one of the
most powerful statistics of the 21st century. Because we acted, 10
million citizens in that country, 41 percent of whom are women, have
registered to vote in the October 9th presidential election. Amazing,
isn't it? (Applause.) It's an amazing statistic. The way I like to
describe it is people are emerging from darkness to light because of
freedom. And it's in our interests that Afghanistan be free. It's in
our interests that we have an ally in the war on terror. It's in our
interests that we have a model of freedom in a part of the world where
freedom is desperately needed.
The third lesson is, when we see threats, we must deal with them
before they fully materialize. When we see a threat -- see, in the old
days we'd see a threat and we'd say, well, maybe this threat will -- we
need to deal with, or maybe we don't. But we never thought it would
come to hurt us. Every threat now must be taken seriously. We scan
the world, watching very carefully -- if our job is to protect you,
then we just got to watch every threat seriously.
And we saw, I saw, my administration saw -- Congress saw, by the
way -- a unique threat in Saddam Hussein. You know, at the time we
thought he had stockpiles of weapons. Everybody did. Since then we
have found that he has had the capability of making weapons. And
here's the danger. Saddam Hussein was a sworn enemy of America. We
had been to war with Saddam Hussein before. Saddam Hussein was a
source of great instability in a volatile part of the world. Saddam
Hussein had the capability of making weapons. At the time, of course,
we knew he had used them, so we knew he had that mind-set. Since then
we've discovered he had the capability. And we knew that he had
terrorist connections. Saddam Hussein -- here's the danger. Saddam
Hussein could have shared that capability of weapons of mass
destruction with the enemy. And that's a risk we could not afford to
take. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision
to remove Saddam Hussein from power. (Applause.)
We have a difference of opinion -- we have a difference of opinion
in this campaign. My opponent calls Iraq a "great diversion" from the
war on terror. I strongly disagree. The reason why Zarqawi is
fighting so hard, why this terrorist is fighting so hard, is because
he understands the stakes. A free Iraq will be a devastating blow for
the ideologues of hate. He call it a diversion from the war on terror,
I call it a battle in the war on terror. (Applause.)
You cannot be the Commander-in-Chief of this country and tell those
fine troops in Iraq that they're participating in a grand diversion
from the war on terror. You can't be the Commander-in-Chief and lead
those troops and at the same time say: wrong war, wrong place, wrong
time. (Applause.)
No, we have a difference of opinion. My opponent said that -- in
the debate -- I didn't say this, he said it ?- that we must pass a
global test before we commit troops into harm's way.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Think about that now. Our most solemn duty is to
protect you. Can you imagine taking an international poll of nations
to determine whether or not we need to protect you?
It was really interesting, in 1991, when my Dad was President, he
saw a threat, and that was that Saddam Hussein was going to overrun
Kuwait. And he went to the Congress and the United Nations and put
together a vast coalition, that I think under any scrutiny would pass
the global test. My opponent voted against authorizing the use of
force in 1991. So now he says, you know, Iraq would have been a --
Iraq is a mistake, and voted against 1991 -- that means Saddam would
not only have been in his palaces, that means he would have been in
Kuwait, as well. The policies of my opponent are dangerous for world
peace. If they were implemented they would make this world not more
peaceful, but more dangerous. (Applause.)
In Iraq we're going to have elections in January. In Iraq we're
training people, Iraqis, so they can do the hard work of defending
themselves. We're training and equipping army, national guard, police,
border patrol -- I don't know if you've seen any newspapers recently,
but in Samarra, the Iraqi soldiers performed brilliantly. Slowly but
surely they're getting the confidence and the training necessary for
them to do the hard work, that's our strategy. They're willing to
fight for freedom and they need the help to do so. In Iraq we're going
to spend money to help them rebuild that society. In Iraq we'll
continue to work with our friends and allies, and we've got a great
coalition. You can't lead a coalition by saying to the leaders of
those countries: Join me for the wrong war. (Laughter and applause.)
As a matter of fact, my opponent -- in the debate they said -- he
kept saying: I've got a plan. If you listen carefully to it, the plan
was to call a summit. I've been to summits. You don't bring
terrorists to justice at summits. I can imagine him walking in to the
leaders of the world saying: We need your help, but Iraq is a mistake;
we need your help, commit your troops into harms way for the wrong war,
at the wrong time, and the wrong place. He has no plan. A summit
won't solve the problem. Strong consistent leadership is what this
world needs. (Applause.)
Two other points, real quick. I'm not trying to filibuster.
(Laughter.) Two points, to the Army wife, I say to you, one, thank you
for your husband's sacrifice. (Applause.) And I -- (applause.) Hold
on for a minute. You're filibustering. (Applause.) And we owe you
and your loved one the full support of the federal government. And
that's why I went to the Congress to ask for $87 billion of funding.
And it was important funding. It was funding that would give our
troops that which they needed for combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
And the bipartisan support was overwhelming for the funding. Think
about this fact: Only four United States senators voted for the
authorization of force and against funding the troops -- only four, two
of whom are my opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: So I asked him about the vote and he issued the
famous quote of the campaign: I actually did vote for the $87 billion,
before I voted against it. (Laughter.) And they pressed him, he's
given about five different answers on the vote. He said, well, he was
proud of the vote. Then he said it was a complicated matter.
(Laughter.) And then he said that it was a protest vote. On national
TV, he said: Well, that vote was a protest vote. Think about somebody
who wants to be the Commander-in-Chief saying that he's going to vote
against important support for the troops in combat and calling it a
protest vote. Finally he said, oh, his vote -- the other night on the
debate, he said: Well, the vote was a mistake. No, what was a mistake
was -- he said: What I said was a mistake. No. What he said wasn't
the mistake. His vote was the mistake. (Applause.)
Finally, let me share with you about my beliefs on liberty. I
believe liberty has got the ability to transform societies. I do. And
I believe that because I'm watching it happen in Afghanistan. But also
I spend time with my friend, Prime Minister Koizumi. He's an
interesting guy. I saw him at the United Nations recently when I was
up in New York, and I said, I'm telling people all across the country
about our relationship; do you mind? He said, no. I didn't tell him I
was going to tell you that Elvis is his favorite singer. (Laughter.)
It's true. (Laughter.)
Think about this story, though -- think about what I'm telling
you. It wasn't all that long ago that my dad and your dads or
granddads were fighting the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy of the
United States of America. And after World War II, after we won, Harry
Truman believed that liberty could transform an enemy into an ally.
That's what he believed. And I bet there was a lot of skepticism,
don't you? There was a lot of heartache, lot of anger at the
Japanese. Why help them, you know, they killed some of our sons? Why
do we care? But Harry Truman cared, because he had a vision that was a
long-term vision about world peace. People in America cared, because
they have deep faith in the values that makes us a unique nation. As a
result of Harry Truman's faith in liberty, I now sit down at the table
with the leader of a country that we -- was a sworn enemy, talking
about the peace we all want. Think about that. Think about what
liberty can do. (Applause.)
People like Zarqawi know the power of liberty. And that's why
they're resisting. He's got one weapon -- they can't whip our military
-- he got one weapon; his weapon is to shake our conscience. His
weapon is to conduct such horrific acts against innocent people that
America loses its will, and our faith in liberty to change the world is
shaken. My faith in liberty will not be shaken. I understand what
we're doing has got a chance to change the world for the better. Some
day when we achieve our goal in Afghanistan, which is helping this
country get up to be a democracy, some day an American President will
be sitting down with a duly-elected leader from Iraq, talking about the
peace, talking about how to keep the peace in a troubled part of the
world. And our children and our grandchildren will be better off for
it. (Applause.)
I want to thank you all -- I want to thank you all for giving me
the chance to share with you why I'm running. See, I believe somebody
running for office can't just sit on their laurels, they've got to talk
about what they are going to do. I'm here to tell you America will be
a safer place, a stronger place, and a better place when you send me
and Dick Cheney back into office for four more years. (Applause.)
All right, let me see if we got some time for some questions. I'm
ready to take some questions if anybody has got a question. Yes, sir,
holding the child right there.
Q Mr. President, first, we just want to tell you that we pray
for you every night as our President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Applause.)
Q We thank God that we live in a representative republic and
we're able to home-school our children, and the fact that we're sharing
with Leon Moseley (phonetic) the other night at the Christian Coalition
dinner what we're teaching our children about a representative
republic, and he said maybe my little seven-year-old should come down
here and share it with you. Can you tell the President what Noah
Webster (phonetic) said about our republic?
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD: It would do our system well to learn at an early
age that the correct principles of our republic is the holy Bible, the
New Testament, and Christianity. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Let me say something about
religion. Let me tell you something about religion. First of all,
that was well-done. Here's the strength of America. You can worship
or not worship, and be equally patriotic. That's the strength of this
country. Think about it. A free society -- a truly free society is
one in which people can worship the Almighty God or choose not to
worship the Almighty God, and you're free to do so. And you're just
equally an American, no matter what choice you make.
Let me tell you something else. If you choose to worship the
Almighty, you're equally an American if you're a Christian, Jew, or
Muslim. That's the strength of America. It's essential that we
maintain that strength. (Applause.) Thank you for your prayers.
(Applause.) Amazing nation when they pray for the President and his
family. It strengthens us and sustains us, and for that, I'm really
grateful. I appreciate it a lot.
All right, anybody got a question out here? Yes, ma'am.
Q Why is Medicare --
THE PRESIDENT: She asked about Medicare going up 17 percent. I'll
give you the answer right now. First of all, because there was a
formula fixed by the United States Congress in 1996. This wasn't the
administration saying, raise it. This went up because of a formula
that my opponent voted for, for example. Secondly, because the cost
for doctors went up. In other words, when they reimbursed doctors more
for Medicare, your premium went up. Thirdly, it went up because there
are additional benefits that you're going to realize as a result of the
law we passed: preventative medicine. And it's the first time ever
that Medicare -- you as a Medicare patient can get a screening a
preventative care. Never has that been done before, and now we've got
it in the new law. In '06, you're going to get a drug benefit. But
those are the reasons why. Thanks for asking. (Applause.)
Yes, sir.
Q -- my son was able to serve in Iraq, and by the grace of God
has come home safe --
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. Thank you. (Applause.) What branch of
service?
Q He's in the Army.
THE PRESIDENT: Army. Good.
Q My question is, is when can other parents rest easy, knowing
their sons and daughters are on their way home?
THE PRESIDENT: You bet. Thanks for asking. As soon as the
mission is complete. As quickly as possible, but we got to get the
mission done. (Applause.) I'll tell you, it's -- whether it be for
the sake of your son who sacrificed, or for a son who did not come
home, we must complete the mission in their honor. In the honor of
your son's sacrifice and service, and in the honor and the sacrifice of
those who didn't make it, it's essential we finish the job. It's in
our interests that Iraq become a free country.
Think about what a free country will do in the broader Middle
East. Think about what the signal will send to the Palestinian people,
who must reject corrupt leadership and embrace a peaceful form of
government called democracy -- true democracy. Think about the example
that a free Iraq will set for women in the broader Middle East. I
believe everybody desires to be free. I believe that. And it's
essential that there be a -- an example of freedom in a part of the
world that is desperate for freedom. If we want to win this war on
terror, we not only need to stay on the offense, we need to help
nations become free nations. I believe all these things because
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.)
Yes, ma'am. You're young.
Q I was excited about your proposal about funding for community
colleges.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q I, myself, have gone back to school.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.
Q My daughter is 12 years old. She's been behind in reading
all along, but since I went back to school, myself, last fall, she has
increased and is reading above grade level at this point.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic.
Q My point is that that also -- educated parents educate their
children better. And that affects No Child Left Behind. Would this
funding affect all of community colleges, or merely the industrial
aspect of community college?
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, there's a lot of money going to help
people get worker training. We spend billions for worker training
programs. What I'm talking about is a specific program aimed at
encouraging the job creators and the community colleges to come
together to give people the skills necessary to fill the jobs. I mean,
there's trade adjustment assistance. There is help. I don't know if
you're receiving federal help or not, but there is all --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, full scholarships help. (Laughter.) Sounds
like -- full scholarship is more than half scholarship. (Laughter.)
She said something interesting about No Child Left Behind. She
said, "my daughter was not reading at grade level." Think about that.
How do you know, unless you measure? How can a mom say, stand up in
front of the President of the United States and say, you know, my
daughter wasn't reading at grade level and now she's reading above
grade level -- unless you measure? If you do not measure, you cannot
diagnose problems and solve them. (Applause.) That's what No Child
Left Behind has done. (Applause.) It gives you the confidence to say,
my daughter is reading above grade level.
Think about a system in which you have no idea. And what happens
in a system like that is -- is that somebody gets out of high school
and they can't read, and all of a sudden, that person becomes
disillusioned and can't find the work of the 21st century. No Child
Left Behind is really a good piece of legislation. We start early in
measuring. People say, oh, don't test. You've got to test. How can
you tell whether or not the curriculum is working? How can a parent
decide whether or not her child's school is measuring up to the next
neighborhood school? This isn't a way to punish people. This is a way
to solve problems. It's essential that we stay strong when it comes to
accountability. That's how we make sure children are educated.
Listen, I was the governor of Texas, I heard them say all the time,
all you're doing is teaching the test. No, we're teaching a child to
read so they can pass the test. And we better determine whether or not
that child can read. (Applause.) I appreciate you bringing it up. The
first teacher -- a child's first teacher is a mom or a dad. And you're
right, and I appreciate you helping a young child. (Applause.)
Yes, sir.
Q (Inaudible) -- I am appreciative of your leadership. We have
a son that was in Iraq, in the Marine Corps --
THE PRESIDENT: You do?
Q -- he went in --
THE PRESIDENT: You don't look old enough. (Laughter.)
Q Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Certainly, the mom doesn't look old enough.
(Laughter.)
Q He went in with the invasion, did seven months there, came
back and he went back again. He was in the Sunni Triangle, and he's
back now, safely, at home.
THE PRESIDENT: Good.
Q I served under your father, in Desert Storm, in the Air
Force. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
Q Right now I'm currently in the Air Force Reserve. And my
question to you is, I know the Reserves have more commitment and more
responsibilities, and I'm wondering how will that look in the next four
years for the Reserves?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I appreciate that. Let me talk about the
military -- (applause) -- thanks for your service. (Applause.) He's
wondering whether he's going to get called up. Let's get to the bottom
line. (Laughter.) Yes, that's what I thought. (Laughter.)
Here's the goal. The goal is to train the Iraqi citizens so they
can do the work. And it takes the -- it will take away the need for us
to rotate troops in. That's the goal. People say, what's the
timetable? Let me tell you what's wrong with saying a timetable. You
might remember my opponent said, well, we'll have them out of there in
six months. I got on him for that, because you can't send a signal for
six months. Well, six months -- so the enemy says, fine, I'll wait
them out for six months and one day. That doesn't do any good.
You know, if I tell the Iraqis, well, we're coming out whether we
get the job done or not -- then they'll quit. They need confidence
that we'll help them do the job. These people have gone from the
tyrannical situation to freedom. And that's hard to do. And you need
the confidence necessary to start assuming the obligations of a free
society. And that's why it's essential we not send any mixed signals
to them, and that we're wise about, you know, talking about
timetables.
My answer to you, as quickly as possible. But the way to relieve
the pressure off of our troops and the coalition troops is to train
Iraqis as quickly as possible. We've got 100,000 of them trained now;
we've got 125,000 of them trained by -- at the end of this year; we'll
have nearly 200,000 trained by the end of next year. And that's a
significant number of troops and folks to help.
You know, my opponent says, well, what we're going to do is get
other nations to send troops in. They're not going to go in for the
wrong war. I know these people. (Laughter.) I've talked to them a
lot. They're our friends. They're not going to say, yes, let us
sacrifice for the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time.
To answer your question, sir, we're going to do our job as quickly
as we can and make sure we get the job done.
Now, secondly, I want to answer something -- you didn't ask it, but
I'm going to ask it myself. (Laughter.) Are you going to keep the
all-volunteer army volunteer? And the answer is absolutely.
(Applause.) That is why we increased pay to make the all-volunteer army
work. That's why we increased housing benefits. That's why we're
making sure these troops are skilled.
Secondly, in order to win the war on terror, we need specialized
forces. This is specialty work. If you draft, you don't get the
specialized force you need. We don't need a draft. We will not have a
draft so long as I'm the President of the United States. (Applause.)
Yes, ma'am.
Q I want to thank you, Mr. President, for not joining the
International Criminal Court. (Applause.) And thank you for --
THE PRESIDENT: Put the mic on.
Q Thank you for not joining the International Criminal Court
and thank you for signing into law the partial birth abortion ban act,
which was -- (applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you all. Listen,
I understand the life debate. And I believe reasonable people who
disagree on the issue can come together for common-sense policy.
Banning partial birth abortion was common-sense policy. People on both
sides of that issue recognize the brutality of the practice. My
opponent wasn't for the ban. He's out of the -- really out of the
mainstream, it seems like to me, on that issue.
The lady brought up the International Criminal Court. This is a
court based in The Hague, where our troops, or diplomats, could be
brought before a foreign judge, an unaccountable foreign judge, because
of decisions made by our country. I think that would be really bad. I
think it would be bad for our troops to have to be, you know, facing an
unaccountable prosecutor in a foreign land for decisions that the
Commander-in-Chief made.
Listen, if somebody does something wrong in our country, we've got
plenty of justice, and we don't need to be signing up for a federal --
international court. My opponent would join the International Criminal
Court.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You see, they talk about, you know, popularity. I
don't think you should try to be popular and make bad decisions. That
may be popular in certain European capitals to join the International
Criminal Court, but I assure you it is unpopular with our military and
the diplomats, it is bad policy. And my opponent is wrong in
supporting the International Criminal Court. (Applause.)
Yes, ma'am. You. (Laughter.)
Q (Inaudible.) Okay, I'll speak louder. (Laughter.) Thank
you, President Bush, for your integrity. You're a man of honesty and I
trust you with my life and my family's.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)
Q (Inaudible.) (Laughter and Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's kind of boiling it down right there, you
know? Thank you, I appreciate that.
My job as President is to do a lot of things and make a lot of
tough decisions. The job also is to set the right example, to live,
you know, a life that will make the people proud. I told the people of
Iowa when I was campaigning that if I had the honor of serving this
office -- if I was given the honor of serving the office, I would
uphold the honor and dignity of the office. And I'll do so for four
more years. (Applause.)
Thank you, sir. Yes, ma'am. They've got a mic coming right behind
you -- hope this one works.
Q I would like to know when you go in to the next debate, if
you would just stand up and tell that opponent of yours exactly what
you're saying today. (Applause.) We're behind you. We pray for you.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. You know, I appreciate
that. It's what you -- that's about the only thing to do, is tell
people what you believe. I -- the last debate was really interesting.
I mean, here we had
a fellow who said he's for a global test for U.S. policy, that he
thought my decision on Korea was the wrong decision. See, let me talk
about Korea right quick so you understand.
There was a bilateral relations between Korea and the United States
before I became President. We had an agreement. We paid the Koreans,
gosh, I think about $350 million in fuel oil in the hopes that they
would honor the agreement they made. Part of the agreement was they
couldn't enrich uranium, and they enriched uranium. And my
administration found it out. So I figured that, well, if one bilateral
relations failed, maybe the next one won't work, and tried to do
something differently to get other nations -- you might remember, I've
been criticized as being a unilateralist, but here I am putting
together a multilateral effort -- that means more than one voice --
saying to the North Koreans, give up your weapons. And perhaps the
most important voice in that discussion is China.
And we went down to Crawford, and Jiang Zemin, the predecessor of
Hu Jintao, and I sat down at the table and said, why don't we come up
with a joint declaration, a joint statement that says that the United
States and China both think the Korea Peninsula ought to be nuclear
weapons-free. And he agreed, and we said that. And so now we have
China involved. Not one voice, but two. And then we got South Korea
involved; and then Japan involved; and Russia involved. There's five
countries now saying the same thing.
So this time if Kim Jong-il decides to renege on any agreement,
he's not only showing disrespect for the United States, he's showing
disrespect for China. And my opponent says we need to go back to the
old days of unilateralism with North Korea. It failed once; it will
fail again. And so I believe we're on the right path to convincing
North Korea to give up its weapons. (Applause.)
Let me say what else in that last debate. I'm glad you brought up
that last debate. He also said -- they asked him, was it a mistake to
go in -- or he said it was a mistake to go into Iraq. And then when
asked, well, then is it a mistake to have our troops dying there, he
said, no. You cannot have it both ways. You can't have it both ways.
And if you try to have it both ways, it sends mixed messages. See,
what I -- listen, I understand tactics change. But what shouldn't
change is someone's core beliefs because of politics. (Applause.)
All right, I'm getting the hook. I got to go back to Washington.
I can't thank you enough for coming. I'm honored to have your
support. Work hard, and we'll carry Iowa and win a great victory in
November. (Applause.)
END 1:38 P.M. CDT
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