For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 14, 2004
Remarks by the President at Victory 2004 Rally
Rancho San Rafael Park
Reno, Nevada
1:41 P.M. PDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming out today. (Applause.)
It's great to be back in Nevada. It's such a beautiful day.
(Applause.) I'm proud to be here in the Biggest Little City in the
World. (Applause.) I'm really pleased to be in a place where the
cowboy hats outnumber the suits. (Applause.)
Thank you all for coming. I'm here to ask for the vote.
(Applause.) And I want your help. (Applause.) Tell your friends and
neighbors to go to the polls on November the 2nd. (Applause.)
Everybody ought to vote in this country. And tell them if they want a
safer America, a stronger America and a better America to put me and
Dick Cheney back in office. (Applause.)
I'm sorry Laura is not here.
AUDIENCE: Awww!
THE PRESIDENT: I know it. We were in Las Vegas earlier, and they
had an AARP convention there. And the head of the AARP said, send your
family's best speaker. (Laughter.) So Laura went. (Laughter.) You
know, when I married her, I said -- she said, fine, I'll marry you,
just so long as I never have to give a speech. I said, okay, you've
got a deal. (Laughter.) Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that
deal. When she speaks, America sees a compassionate, warm, great First
Lady. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. (Applause.) He's a
fine man with good judgment and great experience. He's getting the job
done for the American people. I'm proud to be introduced by a unique
and strong and great American, in John McCain. (Applause.) When he
says he's for you, he's really for you. Las Vegas this morning, Reno
right now, and then we're headed to Medford, Oregon. He's by my side.
He's campaigning hard, and I'm proud to have his support. (Applause.)
And I'm proud of the job that Senator John Ensign is doing for the
great state of Nevada. He's a really fine man. (Applause.) I want to
thank Jim Gibbons for his service, as well. (Applause.) Congressman
Greg Walden from Oregon snuck across the state line. He's with us
today. Thanks for coming, Greg. I appreciate you being here.
(Applause.)
I'm really proud that Dema Guinn is with us, the First Lady of the
great state of Nevada. Thank for coming, Dema. I'm proud you're
here. (Applause.) How about your Attorney General, Brian Sandoval?
What a class act he is. (Applause.) I want to thank Brian Krolicki,
the State Treasurer, for being with us today. (Applause.) I want to
thank -- Dean Heller is with us today. I'm proud he's here.
(Applause.)
I want to thank all the state and local officials. But mainly, I
want to thank the grassroots activists, the people who are putting up
the signs, people making the phone calls, the people turning out the
vote. With your help, we'll carry Nevada and win a great victory in
November. (Applause.)
I enjoyed the debate last night. (Applause.) You know, those
debates clarify the differences in our record, our approach, and our
plans for the future. I'm proud of my record. (Applause.) My
opponent seemed to want to avoid talking about his. (Laughter.) My
record is one of lowering taxes, reforming education, providing
prescription drug coverage to seniors, improving homeland protections,
and waging an aggressive war against the ideologues of hate.
(Applause.)
The Senator's record is 20 years of out-of-the-mainstream votes,
without many significant reforms or results. Our very different
records are a window into what we believe and what we'll do for the
next four years. The Senator believes in a bigger federal government;
I believe in more freedom and more choices for individual Americans.
(Applause.) The Senator believes government should dictate; I believe
you should decide. (Applause.)
Sometimes it's a little hard to tell exactly what he believes --
(laughter) -- as he tries to obscure his approach to government. Take
health care. Once again, last night, with a straight face --
(laughter) -- the Senator tried to say his health care plan is not a
government plan. (Laughter.) I could barely contain myself.
(Laughter.) Yet 22 million new people would enroll on a government
program under his plan, the largest expansion of government health care
ever. Eighty percent of the newly insured on his plan would be placed
on a government program like Medicaid. The Senator claimed his plan
would help small business, yet a study conducted by small businesses
groups concluded Senator Kerry's plan is an overpriced albatross that
would saddle small businesses with 225 new mandates.
I have a different view. (Applause.) I want health care to be
available and affordable by helping small businesses, not by saddling
them with a bunch of new government rules. (Applause.)
Once again last night, with a straight face, the Senator, shall we
say, refined his answer on the proposed global test he would administer
before acting to defend America. See, after trying to say it really
wasn't a test at all, last night he once again defended his approach by
saying, I think it makes sense. Now he says we have to pass some
international truth standard.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The truth is, we should never turn America's
national security decisions over to international bodies or leaders of
other countries. (Applause.)
The last few years, the American people have gotten to know me.
They know my blunt way of speaking. (Applause.) I get that from Mom.
(Laughter.) They know I sometimes mangle the English language. I get
that from Dad. (Laughter.) Americans also know I tell you exactly
what I'm going to do, and I keep my word. (Applause.)
When I came to office, the stock market had been in serious decline
for six months, the American economy was sliding into recession. To
help families to get this economy growing again, I pledged to reduce
taxes. I kept my word, and the results are clear. (Applause.) The
recession was one of the shallowest in American history. And over the
last three years, America's economy has grown at the fastest rate of
any major industrialized nation.
In the past 13 months, we've added more than 1.9 million new jobs.
(Applause.) The unemployment rate in America is at 5.4 percent, below
the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s. (Applause.)
The unemployment rate in your state is 4 percent. (Applause.) Mining
sector is strong, farm and ranch income is up. (Applause.) Home
ownership is at an all-time high in America. (Applause.) We're moving
forward, and there's more to do.
To make sure quality jobs are created here in America, America must
be the best place in the world to do business. (Applause.) That means
less regulations on the job creators. That means we've got to do
something about these frivolous lawsuits that make it hard to expand
employment.
To create jobs, Congress needs to pass my energy plan. (Applause.)
It encourages conservation, it encourages the use of renewables like
ethanol and biodiesel. It encourages new technologies. It encourages
clean coal technology and increased domestic production. To keep jobs
here, we must become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
To protect jobs and communities in the West, we need to reduce the
risk of devastating wildfire. (Applause.) I was proud to sign the
Health Forest Restoration Act. (Applause.) I want to thank the three
members of Congress for working on that act. Under this good law,
we're clearing the underbrush that serves as fuel for fires. Because
we acted, our forests are healthier, residents and small businesses are
safer, and people across the West are better off. (Applause.)
To create jobs in America, we need to reject economic isolationism
and open up markets around the world for U.S. products. America can
compete with anybody, any time, anywhere, so long as the rules are
fair. (Applause.)
To create jobs, we've got to be wise about how we spend your money
and keep your taxes low. (Applause.) My opponent has his own history
on the economy -- 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts, he's built
a record of -- a Senator from Massachusetts. (Laughter.) He voted to
raise taxes 98 times.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That is -- that's a vote for tax increase about
five times every year.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I think that qualifies as a pattern. (Laughter.)
He can run from his record, but he cannot hide. (Applause.)
Now the Senator -- he looked in the camera last Friday night and
promised not to raise taxes for anyone who earns less than $200,000 a
year. The problem is, to keep that promise he would have to break
almost all of his other ones. (Laughter.) His plan to raise taxes on
the top two income brackets would raise about $600 billion, but his
spending promises cost about four times that much -- about $2.2
trillion -- that's with a "T." (Laughter.) You can't have it both
ways. To pay for all his big spending promises he's made, he's going
to have to raise your taxes.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The choice in this election is clear when it comes
to taxes. My opponent has a history of voting for higher taxes, and
he's promised to raise them on the campaign trail. And that's a
promise politicians usually keep.
I believe our families and our economy are better off when
Americans keep more of what they earn. In a new term, I'll work with
Congress to keep your taxes low. (Applause.)
When I came into office, our public schools had been waiting
decades for hopeful reform. Too many of our children were shuffled
through schools, grade after grade, year after year, without learning
the basics. I pledged to restore accountability to the schools and end
the soft bigotry of low expectations. (Applause.) And I kept my
word. (Applause.) We're now seeing results. Our children are making
sustained gains in reading and math. We're closing the achievement gap
for minority students. We're making progress for America's families.
We will leave no child behind. (Applause.)
To make sure jobs are here and to build a more hopeful America, we
must have the best prepared and most highly skilled work force in the
world. Most new jobs are filled by people with at least two years of
college; yet only one in four of our students gets there. So we'll
fund early intervention programs in our high schools to help at-risk
students. We'll place a new focus on math and science. Over time
we'll require a rigorous examination before graduation. By raising
performance in our high schools and expanding Pell grants for low- and
middle-income families, we'll help more Americans start their career
with a college diploma. (Applause.)
My opponent has a history on education issues -- a history of doing
almost nothing. (Laughter.) The Senator has pledged to weaken the No
Child Left Behind Act. He's proposed diluting the accountability
standards and looking at measures like teacher attendance to judge
whether students are learning. His proposals undermine the high
standards and accountability we worked hard to pass. We've moven
beyond the old days of failure and mediocrity and low standards, and
we're not going to go back. (Applause.)
When I came into office we had a problem with Medicare. Medicine
was changing, but Medicare wasn't. Think about this: Medicare would
pay tens of thousands of dollars for a heart surgery, but wouldn't pay
a dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery
from being needed in the first place. That wasn't fair to seniors. It
certainly wasn't fair to taxpayers. I brought Republicans and
Democrats together to strengthen and modernize Medicare for our
seniors, and I kept my word. (Applause.)
We're moving forward on health care and there's more to do. We
need to make health care more affordable and more available for all our
people. We'll have a safety net for those with the greatest need. I
believe in community health centers, places where the poor and the
indigent can get primary preventative care. In a new term, we'll make
sure every poor county in America has a community health center.
(Applause.) We'll do more to make sure poor children are fully
subscribed in our programs for low-income families.
We'll do more to make sure health care is affordable. Most of the
uninsured are employees of small businesses. Small businesses are
having trouble affording health care. To help workers get the health
care, we should allow small businesses to join together so they can buy
insurance at the same discounts big companies can do. (Applause.)
We've got to expand health savings accounts so workers and small
businesses are able to pay lower premiums, and people can save tax-free
in a health care account that they call their own. (Applause.)
And to make sure health care is available and affordable, we must
do something about the junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of
health care. (Applause.) By forcing doctors to practice defensive
medicine, medical lawsuits cost the government about $28 billion a
year. They cost our nation's economy anywhere from $60 billion to $100
billion a year. They drive up insurance premiums, which drive good
doctors out of practice.
Today in Las Vegas, I met Dr. James Barber. Three years ago, Dr.
Barber paid $27,000 in insurance premiums as an OB/GYN in Henderson,
Nevada. Last year's premiums would have been more than $100,000. So
he had to stop delivering babies here and he moved his practice to
California. Because the medical liability laws in California have
reasonable caps, that good doctor's premiums cost him about $33,000 a
year. I also met one of his former patients, Nicole Byrne. Nicole
Byrne said that Dr. Barber saved her life during a previous pregnancy.
Now she's pregnant again and she's devastated that Dr. Barber will not
be around to deliver her baby. Nicole and Dr. Barber understand you
can't be pro-patient, pro-doctor and pro-plaintiff attorney at the same
time. (Applause.) You have to choose. My opponent made his choice
and he put a personal injury lawyer on the ticket.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I made my choice -- I'm standing with the docs and
the patients; I'm for medical liability reform now. (Applause.)
The choice is clear in this election. My opponent wants to move in
the direction of government-run health care. I believe the health
decisions ought to be made by patients and doctors, not by officials in
Washington, D.C. (Applause.) I've set out policies that move our
country toward an optimistic and positive vision. I believe our
country can become an ownership society. You know, there's an old
saying that no one ever washes a rental car. (Laughter.) There's a
lot of wisdom in that statement. When you own something you care about
it, you have a vital stake in the future of our great country.
So we're encouraging entrepreneurship, because every time a small
business is started, someone is achieving the American Dream.
(Applause.) We're encouraging health savings accounts, so people have
the security of owning and managing their own health care. We're
promoting home ownership. I love the fact that more citizens than ever
are able to open up the door where they live and say, welcome to my
home; welcome to my piece of property. (Applause.)
In a new term I'll take the next great step to build an ownership
society by strengthening Social Security. (Applause.) Now, listen,
our Social Security system needs fixing. I want the seniors out here
to hear me loud and clear -- you'll get your check. I remember when I
was running in 2000, they said, if George W. gets elected, you won't
get your Social Security check. You got your checks. (Applause.)
You'll continue to get your check. When you hear them talk about
reform, don't let them fool you and say you're not going to get your
check.
Baby boomers are in pretty good shape when it comes to the Social
Security trust, but we need to worry about our children and our
grandchildren. They are understandably worried about whether Social
Security will be around when they need it. And for their sake, we must
strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of
their own payroll taxes in a personal savings account that will earn
compounded rate of interest, an account that Washington cannot take
away. (Applause.)
My opponent wants to maintain the status quo when it comes to
Social Security.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: He's against these Social Security reforms. As a
matter of fact, he's just about against about every other reform that
gives more authority and control to individuals. On issue after issue,
from Medicare without choices to schools with less accountability to
higher taxes, he takes the side of more centralized control and bigger
government. There's a word for that attitude -- it's called
liberalism. (Laughter and applause.) My opponent dismisses that as a
label. He must have seen it differently when he said to a newspaper,
I'm a liberal and proud of it. (Laughter.)
Others have noticed. The nonpartisan National Journal magazine did
a study and named him the most liberal member of the United States
Senate. That's hard work. (Laughter.) A group known as the Americans
for Democratic Action have given Senator Kerry a higher lifetime
liberal rating than Ted Kennedy. That's an accomplishment.
(Laughter.)
I have a different record and a different philosophy. I don't
believe in big government and I don't believe in indifferent
government. I'm a compassionate conservative. I believe in policies
that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run their
lives. (Applause.) We're helping men and women find the skills and
tools necessary to prosper in a time of change. We're helping all
Americans to have a future of dignity and independence, and that is how
I will lead our country for four more years. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: In this time of change -- in this time of change,
some things do not change. These are the values we try to live by --
courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. In the times of
change, we'll support the institutions that give our lives direction
and purpose -- our families, our schools, our religious congregations.
We stand for a culture of life in which every person counts and every
being matters. (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.)
My opponent's words on these issues are a little muddy, but his
record is clear. (Laughter.) He says he supports the institution of
marriage, but he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which a
bipartisan Congress overwhelmingly passed and which President Clinton
signed. He voted against the ban on the brutal practice of partial
birth abortion.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: He calls himself the candidate of conservative
values, but he described the Reagan years as a time of moral darkness.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: There is a mainstream in American politics, and my
opponent sits on the left bank. (Applause.) He can run, but he cannot
hide. (Applause.)
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. The most solemn duty of the American
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.)
Since that terrible morning, September the 11th, 2001, we have
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'll defend the homeland; we'll strengthen our intelligence
services; we'll transform the all-volunteer army -- we'll keep the
all-volunteer army an all-volunteer army. (Applause.) We're staying
on the offensive. We'll strike the terrorists abroad so we do not have
to face them here at home. (Applause.) We'll spread freedom and
liberty, and we'll prevail. (Applause.)
Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world as it was
three-and-a-half years ago. 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 dangerous place and a gathering threat and
al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks.
Because we led, Afghanistan is a free society and is an ally in
fighting the war against terror, Pakistan is capturing terrorist
leaders, Saudi Arabia is making raids and 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's key leaders and associates
have been brought to justice. (Applause.)
Free societies in the Middle East will be hopeful societies which
no longer feed resentments and breed violence for export. Free
governments in the Middle East will fight terrorists instead of
harboring them. And that's why I think it's so significant that
because we defended ourselves, we liberated 50 million people in
Afghanistan and Iraq. (Applause.)
Freedom helps us keep the peace. That's why it was so uplifting to
see what took place in Afghanistan. Remember what that society was
like. These people lived under the brutal darkness of the Taliban
regime. Young girls weren't allowed to go to school, their mothers
were whipped in the public squares if they didn't toe the ideology of
hate.
But because we acted, there's light in Afghanistan. (Applause.)
Thousands and thousands of people voted in the presidential elections.
The first voter was a 19-year-old woman in Afghanistan. (Applause.)
Iraq will have elections in January. Our mission is clear: We will
help these countries train armies and police so they can do the hard
work of defending freedom and democracy. We'll help them get on the
path to stability as quickly as possible, and then our troops will come
home with the honor they have earned. (Applause.)
We've got a great United States military. (Applause.) I want to
thank the veterans who are here for having set such a great example for
those who wear the uniform. I want to thank the military families who
are here for the sacrifices they have made. (Applause.) And I want to
assure you, we'll keep our commitments to our troops. We will make
sure they have the resources they need to complete their missions.
And that's why I went to the Congress in September of 2003 and
asked for $87 billion supplemental request to help our troops in
combat, both in Afghanistan and Iraq. We received great bipartisan
support. As a matter of fact, only 12 United States senators voted
against the funding request -- two of whom are my opponent and his
running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: When you're out rounding up the vote, remind people
there's only four United States senators who voted to authorize the use
of force and then voted against the support of our troops --
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: -- only four of 100, two of whom are my opponent
and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him how he could have made that
vote. You might remember, perhaps the most famous quote of the 2004
campaign: I actually did vote for the $87 billion right before I voted
against it.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I suspect a lot of people in Reno don't talk that
way. (Laughter.) He's given several explanations since then. One of
my favorites is, he said, the whole thing is a complicated matter.
(Laughter.) There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in
harm's way. (Applause.)
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. I want you to
explain this to your friends and neighbors this way: One of my friends
in the world is Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan. What's interesting
about that, it wasn't all that long ago that Japan was a sworn enemy of
the United States of America. My dad fought against the Japanese,
John's dad, I'm sure your dads and granddads did, as well. They were
our sworn enemy. But because Harry S. Truman, President of the United
States then, believed in the power of liberty to transform an enemy
into an ally, we worked to help Japan become a democracy. There were a
lot of people in our country that didn't agree with that -- why bother,
they're the enemy; why help them, they hurt my family. There was a lot
of reasons, a lot of pessimism that Japan couldn't conceivably become a
self-governing democracy. But she did.
And as a result of that, I sit down at the table today with Prime
Minister Koizumi talking about the peace we all want. He's an ally.
And someday an American President will be sitting down with a duly
elected leader of Iraq, talking about keeping the peace in the Middle
East, and our children and our grandchildren will be better off for
it. (Applause.)
I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for
their freedom. I believe women in the Middle East want to grow up in a
free society. (Applause.) I believe if given a chance, the people in
that region will embrace the most honorable form of government ever
devised by man. 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.)
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 is not one of those times. This is a
time that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in the
values that makes us 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. It's a day I will never forget. There were workers in
hard hats there, yelling at me at the top of their lungs, whatever it
takes. I remember trying to console the folks coming out of the
rubble. A guy grabbed me by the arm, and he said, do not let me down.
Ever since that day I wake up trying to figure out how best to protect
our country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever it
takes. (Applause.)
Four years ago, when I traveled your great state, I made a pledge
that if you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the honor and the
dignity of the office to which I had been elected. With your hard
work, I will do so for four more years. (Applause.)
God bless. Thank you for coming. On to victory. (Applause.) I
appreciate you all. (Applause.)
END 2:17 P.M. PDT
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