For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 19, 2004
President's Remarks in New Port Richey, Florida
Sims Park
New Port Richey, Florida
11:34 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) If you're
looking for sunshine, Florida is the place to come. (Applause.) I'm
looking for votes and Florida is the place to come. (Applause.) Thank
you all for coming out. I'm here to ask for not only your vote, I'm
here to ask for your help. (Applause.) Get your friends and neighbors
to go to the polls. And when you get them heading to the polls, remind
them, if they want a stronger America, a safer America, and a better
America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office. (Applause.)
I've got a lot of reasons why you ought to put me back in, but
perhaps the most important one of all is so that Laura will have four
more years as the First Lady. (Applause.) When I asked her to marry
me, she said, fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech.
(Laughter.) I said, okay, you got a deal. Fortunately, she didn't
hold me to that deal. She's giving a lot of speeches, and the American
people see a warm, compassionate, strong First Lady. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. (Applause.) Now, look,
I admit it, he doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. (Laughter.)
I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. (Laughter.) I picked him
because of his judgment, his experience; I picked him because he can
get the job done for the American people. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my brother, Jeb. What a great governor for Florida.
(Applause.) I appreciate the strength and compassion he showed during
the hurricanes. (Applause.) Florida showed that out of adversity can
come good. Neighbors loving neighbors, people helping people who
hurt. We'll continue to do everything we can to help the people of
Florida get back on their feet. (Applause.)
By the way, brother Marvin is with us, too. (Applause.) Yes. We
love our family. (Applause.) And I love campaigning with my family.
(Applause.)
I want to thank Sam for his service to the United States of
America. He was in the first Gulf War; he's in the second incursion
into Iraq. And our country is more secure because of his service.
(Applause.)
I want to thank Sheriff Bob White for joining us today. Sheriff,
thanks. Appreciate it. (Applause.) I want to thank Daron Norwood,
the country music singer, for being with us today. (Applause.) I want
to thank Al Cardenas and all the grassroots activists who are here
today. Thank you for putting up the signs. Thank you for making the
phone calls. Thank you for working the polls. With your help, we will
carry Florida again and win a great victory in November. (Applause.)
In the last few years, the American people have gotten to know me.
They know my blunt way of speaking. (Applause.) I get that from
Mother. (Laughter.) They know that I occasionally mangle the English
language. (Laughter.) I get that from my father. (Laughter.) They
also know that I tell you exactly what I'm going to do, and I keep my
word. (Applause.)
I enjoyed our debates. They showed the big differences between my
opponent and me. We have different records, we have different views of
the future. My record is one of reforming education, lowering taxes,
providing prescription drug coverage for our seniors, improving
homeland protections, and waging an aggressive war against the
ideologues of hate. (Applause.)
The Senator's record of 20 years is out of the mainstream. Instead
of articulating a vision or a positive agenda for the future, the
Senator is relying on a litany of complaints and old-style scare
tactics. As proven by his record and a series of contradictions in
this campaign, my opponent will say anything he thinks will benefit him
politically at the time. I will do what I've said we will do. We will
keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors -- (applause) -- we
will not have a draft, we will have an all-volunteer army.
(Applause.) On November, the people of America will reject the
politics of fear and vote for an agenda of hope and opportunity and
security for every American. (Applause.)
When I came into office, the stock market had been in decline for
six months. And then we had a recession. To help families and 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. Over the last three years, our
economy has grown at a rate faster than any major industrialized
nation. (Applause.) Home ownership rate is at an all-time high in
America. (Applause.) We added 1.9 million new jobs since August of
2003. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, lower than the
average of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (Applause.) The unemployment
rate in Florida is 4.5 percent. (Applause.) This economy is moving
forward, and we're not going to go back to the old days of
tax-and-spend. (Applause.)
To make sure jobs are here in America, America must be the best
place in the world to do business. (Applause.) We need to reduce the
regulations on our job creators. We need to do something about these
frivolous lawsuits that hurt the small businesses. (Applause.)
Listen, to keep jobs here, Congress needs to pass my energy plan.
(Applause.) It encourages conservation; it encourages the use of
renewables; it encourages clean coal technology; it encourages
environmentally friendly ways to explore for natural gas -- we will not
explore off the coast of Florida. (Applause.) What I'm telling you
is, in order to keep jobs here we must become less dependent on foreign
sources of energy. (Applause.)
To keep jobs here we've got to reject economic isolationism. I
believe in free trade, I believe in fair trade. I know Americans
compete with anytime -- anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the
rules are fair. (Applause.)
To keep jobs here 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.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts he's
built the record of -- a Senator from Massachusetts. (Laughter.) He
voted to increase taxes 98 times in his 20 years -- that's about five
times a year. I would call that a pattern. (Laughter.) A predictable
pattern. He can run from his record, but he cannot hide. (Applause.)
Now he's promising not to raise taxes for anyone who earns less
than $200,000 a year. He said that with a straight face. (Laughter.)
The problem with that is, to keep that promise you'd have to break all
the other ones. See, he's promised over $2.2 trillion in new spending
-- that's with a "T." In order to pay for it, he said, well, all he's
going to do is tax the rich. You can't raise enough money by taxing
the rich to pay for $2.2 trillion. There is a gap between what he's
promised and what he can raise. Guess who generally fills the gap.
You do.
Let me tell you what else is wrong with taxing the rich. The rich
hire lawyers and accountants for a reason, to slip the bill and to pass
it on to you. We're not going to let Senator Kerry tax you. We're
going to carry Florida and win a great victory on November the 2nd.
(Applause.)
When I came into office, our public schools had been waiting
decades for hopeful reform. Fortunately, you had a Governor here in
Florida who enacted hopeful reform. (Applause.) Too many of our
children were shuffled through school without learning the basics. I
pledged to restore accountability to our schools and to end the soft
bigotry of low expectations. (Applause.) I kept my word. We're
seeing results. Children are making sustained gains in reading and
math. We're closing achievement gaps all over this country and we're
not going to go back to the days of low expectations and mediocrity.
(Applause.)
When I came into office, we had a problem in Medicare. Medicine
was changing; Medicare was not. For example, Medicare would pay tens
of thousands of dollars for heart surgery, but not one dime for the
prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being
needed in the first place. It was not fair to our seniors. I pledged
to bring Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen and modernize
Medicare for our seniors. I kept my word. (Applause.)
We're moving forward on health care. There is more to do. We need
to make sure health care is available and affordable. We need a safety
net for those with the greatest needs. I believe in community health
centers, places where the poor and the indigent can get health care.
We will make sure that poor children are fully subscribed in our
programs for low-income families so they can get the health care they
need. To make sure health care is affordable, we must recognize that
most of the uninsured work for small businesses. Small businesses are
having trouble affording health care. To help our workers get health
care, we should allow small businesses to join together so they can buy
insurance at the same discounts as big companies get to do.
(Applause.)
We will 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 they call their own. To make sure health care
is available and affordable, we must do something about the junk
lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine and running good
doctors out of practice. (Applause.)
There is a clear difference in this campaign. My opponent has
consistently voted against medical liability reform. I stand for
medical liability reform, and I know I can work with the next senator
from Florida, Mel Martinez, to get that reform done. (Applause.)
The Senator has a health care proposal of his own, a plan for
bigger and more intrusive government. The other day he tried to tell
Americans that when it comes to his health care plan -- and I quote --
"The government has nothing to do with it." (Laughter.) I could
barely contain myself. (Laughter.) The facts are that 8 out of 10
people who get health care under Senator Kerry's plan would be placed
on a government program. He says his plan would help small
businesses. Yet, groups that study this plan concluded it was an
overpriced albatross that would saddle small businesses with 225 new
mandates. I have a different view. I want to help our small
businesses, not saddle them with a bunch of government rules.
(Applause.)
The choice is clear. My opponent wants to move in the direction of
government-run health care. I believe health decisions should be made
by doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, D.C.
(Applause.) He can run, but he cannot hide. (Applause.)
I've set out policies that move our country toward a more hopeful
and optimistic vision. I believe our country can, and must, be an
ownership society. There's an old saying, no one ever washes a rental
car. (Laughter.) A lot of wisdom in that statement. When you own
something, you care about it. When you own something, you have a vital
stake in the future of your country. That's why we're encouraging
entrepreneurship. 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 will
continue to encourage home ownership in America. I love it when
somebody opens the door where they live and says, welcome to my home,
welcome to my piece of property. (Applause.) In a new term, we'll
take the next step to build an ownership society by strengthening
Social Security. Let me talk about Social Security right quick. In
2000, people traveled this state saying, if George W. gets elected, our
seniors will not get their checks.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Our seniors must remember, you got your checks.
You will continue to get their checks, no matter what they try to tell
you. (Applause.) And baby boomers, we're in pretty good shape when it
comes to Social Security. But we need to worry about our children and
our grandchildren. The job of the President is to confront problems,
not to pass them on to future generations and future Presidents.
(Applause.) To make sure Social Security is around when our children
grow up, we must allow younger workers to save some of their own
payroll taxes in a personal savings account that earns better interest,
a personal savings account they call their own and an account the
government cannot take away. (Applause.)
When it comes to Social Security, my opponent wants to maintain the
status quo. That is not leadership. He's against these Social
Security reforms; he's against just about every other reform that gives
more authority and control to the people. On issue after issue, from
Medicare without choices to schools without accountability to higher
taxes, he takes the side of more bureaucracy and more government.
There is a word for that attitude. It is called liberalism.
(Applause.) He dismisses that as a label. He must have seen it
differently when he told a newspaper, I am a liberal and I'm proud of
it.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The nonpartisan National Journal did a study and
named him the most liberal member of the United States Senate. That
takes a lot of hard work. (Laughter.) I have a different record and a
different philosophy. I do not believe in big government and I do not
believe that government should be indifferent. (Applause.) That is
called compassionate conservatism. (Applause.) I believe in policies
that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run their
lives. (Applause.) I believe we must continue to help men and women
find the schools -- skills and tools to prosper in a time of change.
And so we're helping all Americans find dignity and independence. And
I will continue the lead our country for four more years with that
philosophy in mind. (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: the values we try to live by, courage and
compassion, reverence and integrity. In a time of change, we must
support the institutions that gives our lives purpose and direction:
our families, our schools, our religious congregations. We stand for 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.)
My opponent's words on these issues are a little muddy, but his
record is plenty clear. He says he supports the institution of
marriage, but voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. He voted
against a ban on the practice of partial-birth abortion.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: 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 far left bank. 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. If America shows
uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward
tragedy. This will not happen on my watch. (Applause.)
Our strategy is clear. We are defending the homeland. We are
reforming and strengthening our intelligence services. We are
transforming our military. The all-volunteer army will remain an
all-volunteer army. We are staying on the offensive. We're striking
the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
(Applause.) We will spread freedom and liberty, and we will 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 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. Today, because
we acted, Afghanistan is free and is an ally on the war on terror.
(Applause.) 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 members and associates have been
brought to justice. (Applause.)
We're standing with the peoples of a free Afghanistan and Iraq. I
want you to remind your children about the historic moment that took
place when the Afghan citizens went to vote. It was all but three
years ago that these people lived under the brutal, brutal reign of the
Taliban. Young girls couldn't go to school; mothers were taken and
whipped in the public square because they didn't toe the line of these
ideologues of hate. But because we acted in our self-defense, millions
went to the polls. The first voter in Afghan -- in the Afghanistan
presidential election was a 19-year-old woman. Freedom is on the
march. (Applause.)
There will be elections in Iraq in January. (Applause.) Think
about how far that country has come from the days of mass graves and
torture chambers and the brutal reign of a tyrant who hated America.
It's important that freedom be on the march. We're more secure when
societies are free. Free societies will be hopeful societies which no
longer feed resentments and breed violence for export. Free
governments in the Middle East will fight the terrorists, instead of
harboring them. Free societies will be peaceful societies. Freedom
means America will be more secure. (Applause.)
And so our mission -- our mission is clear. We will help the
people in these countries, in Afghanistan and Iraq, train their armies,
train their police, so they can do the hard work of defending freedom.
We will help the countries get on the path of stability and democracy
as quickly as possible, and then our troops will return home with the
honor they have earned. (Applause.)
I want to thank -- I want to thank those who wear our uniform. I
want to thank the veterans who have set such a great example for those
who wear the uniform. (Applause.) I want to thank the military
families who are with us today. (Applause.) Under my leadership and
working with the Congress, our nation is keeping our commitments to
those who serve and to their families. We've increased basic pay in
the military by 21 percent. (Applause.) We've increased health
benefits and federal support for schools on our bases. We've reduced
the out-of-pocket expenses for off-base housing to zero for our
military families. (Applause.) We're supporting our Guard and our
Reserves. We're spending $14 billion for construction and maintenance
for Guard and Reserve facilities. We've extended military health care
to our Guard and Reserve families. We're making sure that our troops
have what they need in order to complete their missions. And that's
why I went to the Congress and requested $87 billion of funding in
September of 2003. And the support in the Congress was strong --
except for 12 senators voted against funding for our troops --
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: -- two of whom were my opponent and his running
mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: When you're out rounding up the vote, remind the
people of this startling statistic: There were only four members of
the Senate who voted to authorize the use of vote, and voted against
supporting our troops in combat, only four -- two of whom are my
opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him about the vote and he said, in
perhaps the most famous quote of the 2004 campaign, "I actually did
vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it."
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Sunday was the one-year anniversary of Senator
Kerry's vote against funding for our troops. My opponent's many and
conflicting positions on this issue are a case study into why his
contradictions call into question his credibility and his ability to
lead our nation.
In September, 2003, as the $87 billion funding package was being
debated, Senator Kerry, on national TV, said it would be "irresponsible
to abandon our troops by voting against it." That's what he said.
Just one month later, he did exactly the opposite. And so you wonder
why. What happened to change the Senator's mind so abruptly in one
month? Well, his opponent in the Democrat primary, Howard Dean, was
gaining ground as an anti-war candidate. Senator Kerry apparently
decided supporting the troops, even while they were in harm's way, was
not as important as shoring up his own political position.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: At a time of great threat to our country, at a time
of great challenge in the world, the Commander-in-Chief must stand on
principle, not on the shifting sands of political convenience.
(Applause.)
His vote against supporting our troops in combat is part of a
pattern. He opposed the B-1 bomber. He opposed the B-2 stealth
bomber. He opposed modernization of the F-14D, all of which helped us
secure our country in Afghanistan and Iraq. He opposed the Apache
helicopter. He opposed the Patriot missile system. My opponent has
built a 20-year record of military weakness. He can run from his
record --
AUDIENCE: But he can't hide!
THE PRESIDENT: In our debate, Senator Kerry proposed we should
pass a global test before we defend ourselves.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not making that up. That's exactly what he
said. I was standing right there. (Laughter.) The problem with a
global test is the Senator cannot ever pass it. In 1990, the United
Nations Security Council passed a resolution supporting action to
remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. The international community was
united. Countries throughout the world joined our coalition. Yet even
after United Nations' approval, Senator Kerry voted against
authorization for the use of force.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: If that didn't pass a global test, nothing will
pass a global test. (Applause.) Listen, I'll continue to build strong
alliances. We'll work with our friends and allies. But I will never
turn over America's national security decisions to leaders of other
countries. (Applause.)
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. After World
War II, after we defeated the Japanese, Harry Truman believed in the
transformational power of liberty to convert an enemy into an ally. A
lot of people doubted that. A lot of people wondered whether an enemy
could ever become a democracy. But there were strong beliefs. And as a
result of that belief, today I sit down at the table with the head of a
former enemy, Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan, talking about the peace
we all want. Some day, some day, a duly-elected leader of Iraq will be
sitting down with an American President, talking about the peace in the
greater 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 live in a
free society. I believe mothers and dads in the Middle East want to
grow up in a free and peaceful world. 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 isn't one of those times. This is a
time that requires firm resolve and 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. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of
the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget. I will never forget
the workers in hard hats who were yelling at me at the top of their
lungs, "Whatever it takes." I'll never forget the man that grabbed me
by my arm and looked me in the eye, and he said, "Do not let me down."
Ever since that day, I wake up every morning thinking about how to
better 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 help, I
will do so for four more years. God bless. Thank you for coming.
Thank you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
END 12:07 P.M. EDT
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