For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
September 12, 2003
Remarks by the Vice President at Richard Burr Dinner
Governor W. Kerr Scott Building
North Carolina State Fairgrounds
Raleigh, North Carolina
6:25 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all very much. Richard, I
appreciate that introduction and the warm welcome here. My wife and I
spent a summer in Chapel Hill many years ago, so it's kind of fun to
come back and -- (laughter) -- this part of North Carolina.
(Laughter.) Another town, but it's, you know, the general area, central
North Carolina. (Laughter.) But I'm here, obviously, and want to
bring everybody greetings from the man you helped put in the White
House, the President of the United States, George W. Bush. (Applause.)
And I'm here today to talk about an absolutely critical election --
and that's not ours, although, that's an important one, too --
(laughter) -- but to talk specifically about getting Richard Burr
elected to the United States Senate come next November. (Applause.)
You know, Richard touched upon the fact, but the basic, only job I have
is as the President of the Senate. When they wrote the Constitution
and created the job of Vice President, they got all through with the
convention and they couldn't figure out what he would do, and they
hadn't given him any assignment. So they said, well, we'll make him
the President of the Senate and we'll let him preside over the Senate.
And they also gave my predecessor, John Adams, our first Vice
President, gave him floor privileges, let him go into the well of the
Senate and engage in the debate and so forth. And then he did a couple
of times and they withdrew his floor privileges. (Laughter.) And
they've never been restored.
But I like serving as part of the Senate, and in fact, they treat
me very well over there. But I clearly care a great deal about the
numbers in the Senate. And I've been through now, in my brief tenure
of two-and-a-half years, we went from 50-50, where I cast the
tie-breaking vote that set the Senate up on a Republican basis, to
51-49 the other way. Now we're back 51-49 the right way. But this
race is extraordinarily important for next year. It's going to be, I
would say, one of the two or three most important races in the entire
country. And we really want to thank all of you for being here today
to help support the effort. The fact that you're willing to sign on
and that you've got a great candidate to vote for.
Richard has done a superb job in the House of Representatives.
He's been a great congressman and he'll make a great senator. He's
dealt with a number of issues that are crucial for the state of North
Carolina and for the entire nation. They talked earlier about his work
with the Food and Drug Administration policies, his time now as Vice
Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; he's played a
leading role in working on the problem of homeland security and the
threat of terrorism. And I know him well from his service as well on
the Select Committee on Intelligence in the House, one of the
absolutely most important assignments anybody can have in this day of
significant terror activity against the United States.
I think he's done an outstanding job of building support for his
Senate race. I think people all across the state of North Carolina in
both parties are going to support him, that he'll be a great senator
who will work hard to create jobs and encourage investment, as well as
to provide affordable health care. That's why President Bush has
placed his wholehearted support behind Richard's candidacy, and that's
why I'm happy to do the same today. The fact is that for the workers
and small business people, entrepreneurs and the farmers of North
Carolina, next November could bring no better news than George Bush's
reelection as President of the United States, and Richard Burr's
election as the senator from North Carolina. (Applause.)
It's been about three years ago since the President talked to me
about becoming his running mate and going on the ticket as the Vice
President. When he asked me to sign on, he said it wasn't because he
was worried about carrying Wyoming. (Laughter.) He got 70 percent of
the Wyoming vote. But I remind him from time to time those three
electoral votes from Wyoming came in pretty handy. (Laughter.)
I think because of the closeness of that election a lot of the
pundits expected that when we arrived in Washington that we'd trim our
sails and move forward on a timid agenda. Of course, those pundits
didn't know George W. Bush. From the beginning, the President made it
clear that he had gone to Washington to get something done and that we
were going to do absolutely everything we could to move ahead on our
priorities.
In that first year, we moved successfully on the tax front for
significant tax relief, and also to fundamentally reform our
educational system. Both of those were significant milestone
developments, milestones to establish high standards and accountability
in the educational system, and also to lower tax rates, to eliminate
the marriage penalty and the death tax, as well.
The defining moment for this administration and for the President,
certainly, was the attack on our nation on September 11th, two years
ago this week. That's a day none of us will ever forget. Suddenly we
understood how vulnerable we are as a nation -- how it was possible for
terrorists to take advantage of our open society and open borders and
use them against us. We saw that it was relatively easy for a small
group of terrorists to come into the United States and launch an attack
that in two hours killed 3,000 of our fellow citizens in New York,
Washington and Pennsylvania. Truly a watershed event in American
history.
We also began to understand, particularly from the evidence we
found in the caves and training camps in Afghanistan, that our enemies
were determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction -- chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons. And we have every reason to believe
that if the terrorists succeed, they will use them, launching attacks
far more deadly than anything we've ever experienced.
To counter these threats, we've been forced to think anew about how
to defend our country, about what constitutes a viable national
security strategy. We've come to realize that if we're to protect the
American people then we cannot rely on the old Cold War remedies. The
kind of strategy we used against the Soviet Union, where we put at risk
those things they valued in order to deter them from ever launching an
attack against the United States, simply won't work where terrorists
are concerned. There is nothing the terrorists value highly enough
that we can put at risk to keep them from launching an attack against
the United States. No treaty, no arms control agreement or strategy of
deterrence will end this conflict. We needed a new strategy -- and
that's precisely what we've developed.
We began working aggressively here at home to toughen our defenses,
creating a Department of Homeland Security, the biggest reorganization
of the federal government since the 1940s.
But good defense is not enough. The problem with terrorist
organizations is that, even if you build defenses that are 99 percent
successful, the 1 percent that gets through can kill you. We need a
strategy that takes us on offense, as well, one that lets us go after
those who pose a threat to the United States, and a strategy that will
allow us to destroy the terrorists before they can launch attacks
against the United States. We cannot wait to act until another day
like 9/11 or even worse. A good part of our new strategy is based
upon the President's determination to change the way we think about
states that sponsor terror.
Prior to 9/11, too many nations tended to draw a distinction
between the terrorists on the one hand and the states that provided
them the support, sustenance and sanctuary on the other. They were all
too unwilling to hold terror-sponsoring states accountable for their
actions.
After 9/11, President Bush decided the distinction between the
terrorists and their sponsors should no longer stand. The Bush
doctrine makes clear that those states that support terrorists, or
provide sanctuary for terrorists, are just as guilty as the terrorists
themselves. So in addition to going after the terrorists, in addition
to dismantling their financial networks and their logistical support,
we're also taking on states that sponsor terrorism.
I'll never forget that Friday after the attack in New York,, when
the President went to Ground Zero. He stood up on a pile of rubble
with a bullhorn in his hand. When men in hard hats nearby working
there said they couldn't hear him, he responded, "Well, I can hear
you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked
these buildings soon will hear from all of us."
In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime harbored al Qaeda and brutalized
an entire population. That regime is no more. In Iraq, where a brutal
dictator threatened the peace and gave support to terrorists, the
United States launched one of the most extraordinary military campaigns
in history. And that regime is no more. There's no question but that
George Bush is a man of his word. (Applause.)
Some of our critics have suggested that somehow it's wrong for the
United States to strike before the enemy strikes us. But I would argue
that on 9/11 we were struck. We lost more people that day than we lost
at Pearl Harbor. And I ask you, if we'd been able, with preemptive
military action, to defeat the attack before it ever occurred, would
we? And the answer, I think, is, you bet we would have. Make no
mistake: this President is going to act to protect us against further
attacks, even when it means moving aggressively against would-be
attackers.
So the war on terror continues. It's being fought all around the
globe -- just look at the attacks that have already occurred in the
last two years, since New York and Washington were hit: in Bali,
Mombassa, Riyadh, Casablanca, Jakarta, Baghdad and Najaf. And the war
will continue, perhaps as long as we're in office, perhaps even
longer.
In this global war on terror, U.S. forces are heavily engaged when
and where they need to be, but especially in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We'll stay in Afghanistan and Iraq to make absolutely certain the job
is done before we move on. We'll stay until we've wrapped up all the
weapons of mass destruction and eliminated those who are enemies of the
United States.
This war is not without sacrifice, no war ever is. More than 400
Americans have already given their lives during the war on terror, in
combat. Surely, there will be more casualties. But, remember, we lost
some 3,000 Americans here at home on 9/11. We'll be much more secure
and much safer if we're aggressively going after the terrorists and
after the nations and mechanisms that support them on their home ground
than if we lay back and wait for them to strike us yet again here at
home. (Applause.)
In the battles for Iraq and Afghanistan, and in other fronts in the
war on terror, we've depended on the skill and courage of our men and
women in uniform. Our men and women in uniform have faced enemies who
have no regard for the rules of warfare or morality. They have carried
out urgent and difficult missions in remote and hostile parts of the
world. And they've done all of this with the bravery and the honor
that we have come to expect of them. As a former Secretary of Defense,
I've never been more proud of our men and women in uniform than I am
today. (Applause.)
Waging and winning the war on terror, though, is only part of our
responsibility toward other nations. There is great work in this world
to do that only America can do. We need to encourage free markets,
democracy and tolerance, because these are the ideas and aspirations
that overcome violence and turn societies to the pursuits of peace.
Under President Bush, America acts in the world according to both
our fundamental interests and our founding ideals. We believe in the
dignity of life and the right of all people to live in freedom. And
all who strive and sacrifice for the cause of freedom will have a
friend in the United States.
Here at home, we will continue with an active and aggressive
agenda. We've made major progress on the economy, but there is much
yet to do. We won't rest until everyone who wants a job can find a
job. We're looking forward, as well, to working with the Congress on
Medicare reform, on energy, getting major energy legislation passed, as
well as dealing with the judicial confirmation process. Right now, far
too many nominations to the federal bench are held up with a threat of
filibuster. Well qualified nominees, like Terry Boyle here in North
Carolina, have been attacked by Senate Democrats who have blocked an
up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And just last week, another
outstanding nominee, Miguel Estrada, withdrew his name from
consideration after waiting two years for a vote. The treatment of
this man was truly been disgraceful. It's time for us to restore
dignity and civility to the judicial confirmation process by making
certain that every person nominated to the federal bench gets a timely
up-or-down vote. (Applause.)
The campaign season will come in due course -- and when it does,
we'll run hard and take nothing for granted. President Bush and I know
that the key to victory is to do the work we've been given and to do it
well. We intend to make good use of every day we have the honor of
serving the American people.
Long before I took this job, I had the good fortune to work with
other presidents whom I greatly admire. As White House Chief of Staff
in the aftermath of Watergate, I saw Gerald Ford restore confidence in
government by the sheer decency and force of his character. As a
congressman during the decisive years of the Cold War, I saw the
conviction and the moral courage of Ronald Reagan. And as a member of
the Cabinet and Secretary of Defense under former President Bush, I saw
the ideal of public service in its purest form and came to know a
leader of great honor and integrity.
Along the way, I learned a few things about the presidency, and the
kind of person it takes to do that job well. It takes the finest
qualities of character: conviction, personal integrity, good judgment,
compassion, courage in a time of testing for the nation. And that,
ladies and gentlemen, is exactly the kind of man we have in the White
House today. (Applause.)
I am honored to work with George W. Bush. And he and I are both
honored by your confidence in us, by your support for outstanding
leaders like Richard Burr, and by your commitment to this great and
good country of ours, the United States of America.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 6:43 P.M. EDT
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