For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 23, 2004
President's Remarks in Jacksonville, Florida
Remarks by the President at Victory 2004 Rally
Alltel Stadium
Jacksonville, Florida
4:20 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you so much for
coming today. Brother Jeb said, why don't we go to Jacksonville, maybe
a couple of folks will show up to say hello. (Applause.) Laura and I
thank you so very much for coming out on a Saturday afternoon. I'm
here to ask for your vote, and I'm here to ask for your help.
(Applause.) People are voting here in Florida. You need to get your
friends and neighbors to go to the polls, and by the way, when you're
getting people to go to the polls, don't overlook discerning Democrats,
people like Senator Zell Miller from Georgia. (Applause.) With your
help, we'll carry Florida again and win a great victory in November.
(Applause.)
So when I asked Laura to marry me, she said, fine, just so long as
you -- I never have to give a political speech. I said, okay, you got
a deal. Fortunately, she didn't hold me to the promise. Laura is
giving a lot of speeches, and when people see her speak, they see a
warm, compassionate, great First Lady. (Applause.) I'm going to give
you some reasons to put me back into office. Perhaps the most
important one of all is so that Laura is the First Lady for four more
years. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. (Applause.) I admit
it, he doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. I didn't pick him
because of his hairdo. I picked him because of his judgment, his
experience and his ability to get the job done for the American
people. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my brother, your Governor, Jeb Bush. (Applause.) You
don't have to worry about where he stands. He doesn't take a poll or
focus group to find out what he should believe. Jeb Bush stands on
principle, and when times are tough, he leads this state with
compassion. He has done a masterful job of helping to bring comfort
for those who have been afflicted by the four hurricanes. (Applause.)
Florida showed its true strength not only in your Governor, but because
people cared for people who are hurting in this state. I am really
proud of how Florida handled the four hurricanes. (Applause.)
Mel Martinez is the right man for the United States Senate from
Florida. (Applause.) And when you vote for him and put him in office,
he'll be joining a fine United States Senator who has joined us today
from the state of Utah -- Senator Orrin Hatch. Thank you, Senator.
(Applause.)
Congressman Ander Crenshaw is doing a great job in the House of
Representatives. Thank you, Ander. (Applause.) Congressman Cliff
Stearns is with us today. I appreciate you coming, Cliff.
(Applause.) I want to thank the state Chief Financial Officer, Tom
Gallagher, for joining us today. (Applause.) I want to thank the
Mayor of the great city of Jacksonville, Florida, Mayor John Peyton.
(Applause.)
When I came in, I had the opportunity to say, hello, to Nelson
Cuba, who's the President of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of
Police. I am proud to have the endorsement of the FOP. I'm proud to
be standing with the policemen all across this country. (Applause.)
I want to thank Bill Civerny (phonetic) and Aaron Tippin for
providing such wonderful entertainment here for this great crowd.
(Applause.) I want to thank the people who put on this event. It
takes a lot of work to get this many people to come. I want to thank
the grassroots activists, the people who are putting up the signs,
making the phone calls, turning out the vote. With your help, we will
win a great victory on November the 2nd. (Applause.)
We have just ten days to go in this campaign, and voters have a
choice between two very different candidates and dramatically different
approaches and records. You know where I stand. (Applause.) And
sometimes, you even know where my opponent stands. (Applause.) We
both have records. I'm running on my record. (Applause.) Senator
Kerry's running from his record. (Applause.) And there is a reason
why. There is a reason why. There is a mainstream in American
politics, and my opponent sits on the far left bank. (Applause.)
I am a compassionate conservative and proudly so. (Applause.) At
a time when our country has much to accomplish and much more to do, I
offer a record of reform and results. This election comes down to five
clear choices for America's families, five choices on issues of great
consequence: your family's security, your family's budget, your
quality of life, your retirement, and the bedrock values that are so
critical to our families and to our future. (Applause.)
The first clear choice is the most important because it concerns
the security of your family. All our progress on every other issue
depends on the safety of our citizens. The most -- this is the first
presidential election since September the 11th, 2001. Americans will
go to the polls in a time of war and ongoing threats unlike any we have
faced before. The terrorists who killed thousands of innocent people
are still dangerous. They are determined to strike us again. The
outcome of this election will set the direction of the war against
terror. I believe 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 of 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've strengthened protections for the homeland. We're
reforming and strengthening our intelligence capabilities. We're
transforming our all-volunteer army -- we will not have a draft, we
will keep the all-volunteer army an all-volunteer army. (Applause.)
We are staying on the offensive. We are relentless. We are determined
to protect the American people. And we're succeeding. More than
three-quarters of al Qaeda's key members and associates have been
brought to justice, and the rest of them know we are on their trail.
(Applause.)
My opponent has a different approach. He says that September the
11th -- quote -- "didn't change me much at all." End quote.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: And that's pretty clear. He considers the war on
terror primarily a law enforcement and intelligence-gathering
operation.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: His top foreign policy advisor has questioned
whether it's even a war at all, saying that's just a metaphor, like the
war on poverty.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Anyone who thinks we're fighting a metaphor does
not understand the enemy we face, and you cannot win a war if you're
not convinced we're even in one. (Applause.)
Senator Kerry misunderstands our battle against insurgents and
terrorists in Iraq. After voting to authorize force against Saddam
Hussein, after calling it the right decision when I sent troops into
Iraq, the Senator now calls it the wrong war.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: The Senator used to recognize that Saddam Hussein
was a gathering threat who hated America. After all, the Senator said
so. He used to recognize that Saddam was a state sponsor of terror
with a history of pursuing and even using weapons of mass destruction.
After all, the Senator said so. He used to understand that Saddam was
a major source of instability in the Middle East. After all, the
Senator said so. And when he voted to authorize force, the Senator
must have recognized the nightmare scenario that terrorists might
somehow access weapons of mass destruction. Senator Kerry seems to
have forgotten all that as his position has evolved during the course
of this campaign. You might call it election amnesia. (Applause.)
I knew then, and I know now, that America and the world are safer
with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell. (Applause.)
Senator Kerry now calls Iraq a diversion.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: But the case of just one terrorist shows how wrong
his thinking is. A man named Zarqawi is responsible for planting car
bombs and beheading Americans in Iraq. He ran a terrorist training
camp in Afghanistan until American troops arrived. (Applause.) Then
he fled to Baghdad where he's fighting us today. He publicly announced
his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. If Zarqawi and his associates were
not busy fighting Iraqi and American forces in Iraq, what does Senator
Kerry think they would be doing? Simple shopkeepers? (Laughter.)
Running benevolence societies? I don't think so. And our troops will
defeat Zarqawi and his friends and allies overseas so we do not have to
face them in America. (Applause.)
The choice in this election could not be clearer. You cannot lead
our nation to decisive victory on which the security of every American
family depends if you do not see the true dangers of the post-September
the 11th world. My opponent has a September the 10th point of view.
At his convention, he declared that his strategy will be to respond to
attacks after America is hit.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That would be too late. In our debates, he said we
can defend America only if we pass a global test.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not making that up. He was standing about that
far away from me when he said it. (Applause.) I'll work with our
friends and allies. We'll continue to build strong coalitions. But I
will never turn over America's national security decisions to leaders
of other countries. (Applause.)
I want to thank those who wear the uniform who have joined us
today. (Applause.) I want to thank the veterans who are here today
for having set such a great example. (Applause.) I want to thank the
military families who are here today. (Applause.) And I'm going to
assure you, so long as I'm the Commander-in-Chief, our federal
government will make sure your loved ones have what is necessary to
complete their missions. (Applause.)
And that's why I went to the United States Congress in September of
2003, asking for $87 billion in supplemental funding to support our
troops in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I appreciate the strong
bipartisan support for this very important request. When you're out
gathering up the vote, I want you to remind your friends and neighbors
that only four members of the United States Senate voted to authorize
the use of force and then voted against the funding necessary to
support our troops in harm's way, and two of those four were my
opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: They asked him, why did you make the vote? And he
issued 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: They've asked him time and time again, and he must
have given five or six explanations of that vote. At one point, he
said the whole thing is a complicated matter. There is nothing
complicated about supporting our troops in combat. (Applause.)
We'll protect America by leading the cause of freedom. I believe
in the transformational power of liberty. I want you to remember what
has taken place in Afghanistan in a short period of time. That country
has gone from darkness to light. Three-and-a-half years ago, young
girls couldn't go to school. If their mothers did not toe the line of
the ideologues of hate who ran Afghanistan, they were whipped in the
public square and sometimes executed in a sports stadium. Because we
acted in our self-interest, because we upheld doctrine, 25 million in
Afghanistan are free. Millions went to vote in a presidential
election. The first voter was a 19-year-old woman in Afghanistan.
(Applause.) Iraq will be holding elections in January. Think about
how far that country has come from the days of torture chambers and
mass graves. Freedom is on the march, and America is more secure
because of it. (Applause.)
I believe every person in the world wants to be free. I believe
this 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.)
On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
Towers. It is a day I will never forget. There were workers there in
hard hats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it
takes." I remember the man coming out of the rubble -- we were doing
our best to console people -- he grabbed me by the arm, he 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.)
The second clear choice in this election concerns your family
budget. When I ran for President four years ago, I pledged to lower
taxes for America's families. I kept my word. (Applause.) We raised
the child credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. Listen, our tax
code ought to encourage marriage, not penalize marriage. (Applause.)
We dropped the lowest bracket to ten percent to help our working
families. We reduced income taxes for everyone who pays taxes. As a
result of these good policies, after-tax income, money in your pocket
that you can spend, is up by about ten percent since I became your
President. (Applause.)
We've been through a lot together. When you're out rounding up the
vote, remind your friends and neighbors that the stock market had been
in serious decline for six months prior to my arrival in Washington,
D.C. And then we had a recession and corporate scandals and the
attacks on our country. We lost nearly one million jobs in the three
months after September the 11th.
But our economic policies are working. Our economy is growing at
rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. We've added more than 1.9
million new jobs in the last 13 months. The unemployment rate is 5.4
percent, lower than the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
(Applause.) Our farmers and ranchers are making a living. The small
businesses are flourishing. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
Home ownership rate is at an all-time high. And the unemployment rate
in Florida is 4.5 percent. (Applause.)
My opponent has very different plans for your family's budget. He
intends to take a big chunk out of it.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: He voted against the higher child tax credit. He
voted against the marriage penalty relief. He voted against lower
taxes. If he had had his way, an average middle-class family would be
paying $2,000 more a year to the federal government.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: It's part of a pattern. See, the Senator voted ten
times to raise taxes on gasoline. All told, during his 20 years in the
United States Senate, he has voted 98 times to raise your taxes.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That's about five times a year. When a senator
does something that often, he must really enjoy it. (Laughter.)
During this campaign, he's also made a lot of big, expensive promises.
He's promised $2.2 trillion of new federal spending -- that's trillion
with a "T." That's a lot even for a senator from Massachusetts.
(Laughter.)
They asked him how he's going to pay for it. He said, oh, we'll
just pay for it by taxing the rich. There's a problem with that
promise. When you run up the top two brackets, you're taxing many
small businesses. Most small businesses pay tax at the individual
income tax level. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small
businesses in America. Taxing small businesses is bad economic
policy. (Applause.) And there's a gap between what he's promised and
what he can deliver. Running up the to two brackets like he wants to
do raises between $600 billion and $800 billion. And remember, there's
$2.2 trillion of spending promises. So there's a gap, a gap between
what he's promised and what he says he's going to pay. And guess who
usually fills the gap?
AUDIENCE: We do!
THE PRESIDENT: You do. The good news is, we're not going to let
him tax you. We are going to carry Florida and win on November the
2nd. (Applause.)
Third clear choice in this election involves the quality of life
for our nation's families. A good education and quality health care
are important to a successful life. When I ran for President four
years ago, I promised to end the soft bigotry of low expectations by
reforming our public schools. I have kept my word. (Applause.) We
passed good, sound education reforms to bring high standards to the
classroom and make our schools more accountable to parents and
teachers. We're seeing progress. Math and reading scores are rising.
We're closing the achievement gap by helping minority students. We
will build on these reforms and extend them to our high schools so that
no child in America is left behind. (Applause.)
And we'll continue to improve our life for our families by making
health care more affordable and accessible. We'll expand health
savings accounts so more small businesses can cover their workers and
more families are able to get health care accounts they manage and they
call their own. We'll create association health plans so small
businesses can join together and buy insurance at the same discounts
that big companies are able to do. (Applause.) We will help our
families in need by expanding community health centers. We'll make
sure every eligible child is enrolled in our government's low-income
health insurance program.
And we'll help patients and doctors all across this nation by doing
something about the frivolous and junk lawsuits that are running up
your costs and running good doctors out of practice. (Applause.) I
have met too many good docs being run out of practice because of these
junk lawsuits. I met too many OB/GYNs who are not able to practice
their skill. I met too many pregnant women who are having to drive
miles, which isn't right. Our expectant moms need good, quality health
care, and these lawsuits are making it tough for them to find good,
quality health care. You cannot pro-doctor, pro-patient, and
pro-personal injury lawyer at the same time. (Applause.) You have to
make a choice. My opponent made his choice, and he put a personal
injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I have made my choice. I'm standing with the docs
and the patients. I am for medical liability reform now. (Applause.)
Senator Kerry has a different point of view on our schools and
health care. Listen, he voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, but
now he wants to weaken the accountability standards. He's proposed
including measures like teacher attendance to judge whether students
can read and write and add and subtract. He voted against health
savings accounts. He opposed association health plans. He has voted
ten times against medical liability reform. He can run from his
record, but he cannot hide. (Applause.)
Now he's proposing -- he's proposing a health care plan in this
campaign, a big government health care plan that would cause eight
million families to lose private coverage they get at work and have to
go on a government plan. Eighty percent of the people who get coverage
under his proposal would be enrolled in a government program.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: In one of our debates, he looked in that camera and
he told the Americans that when it comes to his health care plan -- and
I quote -- "the government has nothing to do with it." I could barely
contain myself. (Applause.) My opponent's plan would move America
down the road to federal control of health care. It's the wrong road
for American families. He can run from his plan --
AUDIENCE: -- but he cannot hide! (Applause.)
In all we do to improve health care, we will make sure the
decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by officials in
Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement.
Our nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social
Security and Medicare. When I ran for President four years ago, I
promised to keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding
prescription drug coverage. I have kept my word. (Applause.) Seniors
are now getting discounts on medicine with drug discount cards.
Low-income seniors are getting $600 this year and $66 next year to help
pay for prescriptions. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able
to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare. (Applause.)
My opponent voted against the Medicare bill that includes
prescription drug coverage, even though it was supported by AARP and
other seniors groups. This campaign, he said, if I'm the President
we're going to repeal that phony bill. A little later he said, no, I
don't want to repeal it. That sounds familiar. (Applause.) As your
President for the next four years, I will defend the reforms we have
worked so hard to pass, and keep the promise of Medicare for our
country's seniors. (Applause.)
We'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and we
will strengthen Social Security for generations to come. Every
campaign is predictable. It is predictable that you'll hear once again
that our seniors will lose their checks. I want you to remind our
seniors that in the 2000 campaign, they said, if George W. gets
elected, the seniors will not get their Social Security checks. You
might remember that. Well, remind them of this -- George W. got
elected and the seniors got their checks. (Applause.) And the seniors
will continue to get their checks. (Applause.) And baby boomers like
me are just fine when it comes to the Social Security trust. But we
need to be concerned about children and our grandchildren. We need to
make sure that the Social Security system will be there when they need
it, too.
And that is why I believe younger workers ought to be able to take
some of their own money and put it into a personal savings account, a
savings account they call their own, a savings account the government
cannot take away. (Applause.)
My opponent takes a different approach. He talks about protecting
Social Security, but he's the only candidate in this race who has voted
eight times for higher taxes on Social Security benefits.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: He can run --
AUDIENCE: -- but he cannot hide! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: And when it comes to the next generation, he's
offered nothing in terms of Social Security reform. The job of the
President is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future
Presidents and future generations. In a new term, I'll bring
Republicans and Democrats together and strengthen Social Security, so a
younger generation can count on it. (Applause.)
The fifth clear choice in this election is on the values that are
so crucial to keeping America's families strong, and here my opponent
and I are miles apart. I believe marriage is a sacred commitment.
(Applause.) I believe marriage is a pillar of our civilization and I
will always defend it. (Applause.) This is not a partisan issue.
When Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as
the union of a man and a woman, the vast majority of Democrats
supported it, and Bill Clinton signed it into law. But Senator Kerry
was part of an out-of-the-mainstream minority that voted against the
Defense of Marriage Act.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I believe that reasonable people can find common
ground on the difficult issues. Republicans and Democrats and many
citizens on both sides of the life issue came together and agreed we
should ban the brutal practice of partial birth abortion. I was
honored to sign that bill. (Applause.) But Senator Kerry was part of
the out-of-the-mainstream minority that voted against the ban.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: He also voted against parental notification laws.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: And against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I will continue to reach out to Americans of every
belief and move this good-hearted nation toward a culture of life.
(Applause.)
During this campaign, my opponent has said that you can find the
heart and soul of America in Hollywood.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Most American families do not look to Hollywood as
a source of values. I believe the heart and soul of America is found
in communities like Jacksonville, Florida. (Applause.)
All of these choices -- all of these choices make this one of the
most important elections in our history. The security, the prosperity
of our country, the education of our children, and the health of our
families, the retirement of our seniors, and the direction of our
culture are -- all are at stake. And the decision is in the best
hands, the hands of the American people.
I see a positive future for this country. I see a better day. One
of my favorite quotes was written by a fellow Texan. He said, "Sarah
and I live on the east side of the mountain. It's the sunrise side,
not the sunset side. It's the side to see the day that is coming, not
to see the day that is gone." During this campaign, my opponent has
spent much of his campaign talking about the day that is gone. I see
the day that is coming. (Applause.)
We have been through a lot together in the last nearly four years.
Because we have done the hard work of climbing the mountain, we can see
the valley below. (Applause.) We'll protect our families, build up
the prosperity of this country and defend our deepest values. We will
spread freedom in this world and achieve the peace we all long for.
When I campaigned in your state four years ago, I said if you gave
me the honor of serving, 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. (Applause.)
END 5:11 P.M. EDT
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