For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 12, 2004
Remarks by the President and Mrs. Bush at Victory 2004 Dinner
Santa Monica Municipal Airport
Santa Monica, California
6:54 P.M. PDT
MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Governor. Thank you, Governor,
and thanks for the great job you're doing for California. We all --
everyone in the United States loves looking out here and watching you
and watching what a great job you're doing. Thanks a lot. (Applause.)
Well, I'm just going to make this a very short introduction, but
I'm going to be campaigning for my husband until November 2nd, and I
decided I really had my work cut out for me. When we were in Hawaii
last fall, and we were welcomed to a school that we were visiting by a
little 2nd-grader who bellowed out, George Washington! (Laughter.) He
was close, just the wrong George W. (Laughter.)
I've had a really wonderful time watching my husband over the last
four years. I've seen him as he's met people around the United
States. I've watched as he's helped a family build their own home,
their first home, a Habitat home. I've watched him with the men and
women of our United States military at bases all over the world.
(Applause.) And I've watched, and I know how he treats every person he
meets with dignity and respect. I'm so proud of him, and I know how
challenging these times are and how well he's met the challenges that
we've faced in these last few years in our country.
And I also know that these times require a particularly strong and
determined leader. And I'm glad that my husband is that kind of
leader.
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. And thanks for having us.
Thank you all, please be seated. Thanks for the warm -- warm welcome.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you all. Mine is the only line
of work where you get introduced by your wife -- (laughter) -- and I'm
really glad I did. I can't tell you how proud I am of Laura. She is a
fabulous First Lady. (Applause.) I like to tell these folks I've been
campaigning with recently, I said, I'm going to give you some reasons
to put me back in office, but perhaps the most important one of all is
so that Laura is the First Lady for four more years. (Applause.) And
by the way, it's a joy to campaign with her, and it's a great joy for
both of us to campaign with our daughters. It's really been a fun
experience for us to have Barbara and Jenna on the campaign trail with
us. And it's kind of like the camping trip I never took them on.
(Laughter.)
I'm also proud to be here with the Governor of California. He's a
-- because he and I share a lot in common. We both married above
ourselves -- (laughter) -- we both have trouble with the English
language -- (laughter and applause) -- we both have big biceps --
(laughter) -- well, two out of three aren't bad. If I had to put a
motto or slogan on Governor Schwarzenegger, I would say he's a guy who
got the job done. (Applause.) He came to this important state and he
got the job done. That's how I hope people view me, as well, as the
President, came to the Capital and got the job done. (Applause.)
This is a part of a western swing that actually started in
Florida. (Laughter.) John McCain and I were campaigning in Panama
City the other day. We had 23,000 people show up, a big crowd for
August. Last night in Phoenix, there was about 15,000, 16,000, loud,
energetic, enthusiastic people. I'm telling you what I'm seeing. The
crowds are big, the enthusiasm is high. We're going to win in
November. (Applause.) Thank you all.
And I want to thank you for your help tonight. This is not the
first time we've been out here. By the way, nor is it going to be the
last time. (Applause.) I intend to compete in California. I know
that Parsky, my man Parsky says, don't worry, you're going to win it
this time. And I said, you know what? I think I am. I'm looking
forward to coming to this great state. Nobody should take this state
for granted in 2004. (Applause.)
I'm running with a good man. And Dick Cheney, you know, I like to
tell people, he's not the prettiest face on the ticket. (Laughter.) I
didn't pick him for his looks. (Laughter.) I picked him because he
can do the job. I picked him because of his experience. I picked him
because of his sound advice. (Applause.)
I want to thank my friend, Brad Freeman. I'm thankful for the fact
he didn't introduce me. (Laughter.) But I love him like a brother.
And I thank you all for coming, too.
Rabbi Hier, I want to thank you for your outstanding prayer. I got
up after that prayer and said I want a copy of it. It was really
strong. What a fine man, Rabbi Hier is. What a sweet, fine man.
(Applause.) Roland said, that's my rabbi. I said, I can understand
why.
I want to thank all the congressmen who are here -- Ed Royce and
Ken Calvert and Chris Cox and Dana Rohrabacher. These are fine members
of the United States Congress. Good, hardworking, decent people.
(Applause.) I see Riordan is here -- Mr. Secretary, I'm glad you're
here, glad you finally found work. (Laughter.) Remember the last job
I tried to give you, but -- Ambassador to Chad. But he didn't want
it. (Laughter.)
I'm glad the next senator from California, Bill Jones, is with us.
I appreciate you, Senator. (Applause.) I want to thank my friend,
Mercer Reynolds, who has helped raise money all across the country.
He's from Cincinnati, Ohio. He's an entrepreneur, a business guy,
former partner of the Texas Rangers, who said, how can I help. I said,
why don't you lead the efforts to make sure we're well-funded. And he
has done a fabulous job. I appreciate you being here, friend.
(Applause.) Finally, I want to thank my friend, Gerry Parsky and Robin
for being here, as well, and being such great friends.
Listen, I'm here to ask for the vote. I'm traveling the country
letting the people know that I've got a reason to be your President for
four more years. I've got a reason to run for office. I want this
country to be a safer country, a stronger country, and a better country
for every one of our citizens. (Applause.)
And we've done a lot. You know, this country has come through a
lot, and we've accomplished a lot. But there's only one reason to look
backward, and that's to determine who best can lead us forward. I'm
traveling the country talking about what more we can do to make this
country the best country it can possibly be. I have more work to do on
behalf of the American people. We've got more work to do to make sure
our public schools work well.
You might remember, when I came to office the system was such that
it just shuffled the kids through grade after grade, year after year,
without teaching them the basics. And I went to Washington to
challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. And so we changed the
attitude toward our public schools, at least in the Nation's Capital.
We've now raised the bar. We've said we expect results, show us
whether or not the children can read and write and add and subtract.
If they country, we'll fix the problems early. The whole goal is to
make sure that not one single child is left behind in America. And
we're making progress, we're making progress. (Applause.)
We've laid the foundation for excellence. You know, there's a lot
of talk in these campaigns about funding. We've increased funding by
-- for elementary and secondary education by 49 percent. We've
increased funding since 2001 by 52 percent for Title One. But that's
part of the issue. The other issue is, are we actually getting the job
done? Are the schools functioning the way they're supposed to
function? And if not, we're demanding change. When we find kids
trapped in schools that will not teach and will not change, this
administration is calling for change.
There's more to do. We've got intervention programs in junior high
and high school to make sure, at the very minimum, our kids can read.
A high school diploma must mean something, so we've got a plan to
restructure our high schools in a more effective way. We want to make
sure the Internet is in our classrooms to bring the latest technology
for our kids. What I'm telling you is, over the next four years, our
children will gain the skills and confidence ready to succeed in the
21st century. (Applause.)
There's more to do. There's more to do for health care. You might
remember the Medicare debate. President after President, Congress
after Congress said, oh, don't worry, we'll strengthen Medicare, and
yet, Medicare was not meeting the needs of our seniors. We pay
$100,000 for heart surgery, but not the medicines necessary to prevent
the heart surgery from the first place. We got a job done. We worked
with the Congress to strengthen Medicare. Seniors will now have a
choice. Seniors will have prescription drug coverage. Poor seniors
will be helped. There's a lot of talk in Washington, but this
administration, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in California, is getting
the job done.
We've expanded low-income -- we've expanded community health
centers for low-income Americans. We've established what's called
health savings accounts so families can save tax-free for their health
needs. We need more to do. We've got to make sure we bring technology
to the health care industry to save money and to cut down on medical
errors. I'll tell you what else we need to do. We need medical
liability reform in the Nation's Capital now. (Applause.) You cannot
-- you can't be -- you cannot be pro-doctor and pro-patient and
pro-trial lawyer the same time. (Applause.) You have to choose. My
opponent made his choice and he put him on the ticket. I made my
choice. I'm going to continue the Congress to get medical liability
reform. (Applause.)
In all we do to improve health care in America, we will make sure
that the health decisions are made between the doctor and the patient,
not made by government officials in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
There's more to do on our economy. Just remember what we've been
through in this country. We've been through a recession and stock
market decline. We've been through a corporate scandal. We've been
through terrorist attacks. And yet our economy is strong and getting
stronger. I believe the reasons why is because the American people
refuse to fold. I also know the reason why is because the
entrepreneurial spirit is strong. The role of government is not to
create wealth; the role of government is to create an environment in
which the entrepreneur can flourish. (Applause.)
And part of making sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, we
cut taxes. We needed tax relief in order to get out of the recession
we're in. When people have more money of their own in their pocket,
they're going to demand an additional good or a service, and when they
demand that additional good or a service, somebody in our system is
going to produce it. The tax relief we passed is working. The economy
is growing. More jobs are being added, and there is more work to do.
I'm running because I understand, in order to keep jobs here in
America, America must be the best place in the business -- in the world
to do business. Now, what does that mean? That means tort reform. It
means letting small businesses pool risk when it comes to health care
so they can buy more affordable insurance just like big businesses do.
It means an energy policy that is less dependent on foreign sources of
energy to keep jobs here. (Applause.) It means having a trade policy
that is confident in our capacity to compete. We ought to be opening
markets around the world. My view is American entrepreneurs and
manufacturers and small business people and farmers and ranchers can
compete with anybody any time, anyplace, so long as the rules are
fair. (Applause.)
You know what else it means? It means we better have an education
system that encourages workers to gain the skills necessary for the
jobs of the 21st century. I have been traveling our country a lot. I
remember going to North Carolina where textile mills had moved
overseas. And, of course, there was despondency there. But our
government provided help for those workers so they could go back to
community colleges to train for the jobs which actually now exist in
North Carolina. And when a worker becomes more productive as a result
of more education, they make more money. People are finding new jobs
in this changing economy of ours, and a proper role for government is
to provide job training which works. (Applause.)
I'm running for a reason. I want people finding work in this
country. I want more small businesses flourishing. I want to continue
this fantastic story of home ownership in America. Do you realize the
home ownership rate in our country is at the highest rate ever? I love
the fact that more and more people from all walks of life are opening
their front door and saying, welcome to my home. (Applause.)
After four years, America's economy will still lead the
industrialized world. After four years, people will get better paying
jobs. And after four years, more people will be able to realize their
dream and say, this is my business and I'm expanding it.
The next four years also require diligence when it comes to foreign
policy. If America shows weakness or uncertainty in this world, the
world will drift toward tragedy. This isn't going to happen on my
watch. (Applause.) You know, our world changed on September the
11th. And since that day, we have led and the world has changed. Just
think about this. Prior to September the 11th, Afghanistan was a home
base of al Qaeda. Al Qaeda was training there. They trained thousands
of killers and sent them around the world in secret cells, including
our own country. Because we acted, because we were firm and with
resolve, Afghanistan is now free. Afghanistan is an ally in the war on
terror. In Afghanistan, young girls now go to school for the first
time. (Applause.)
The other day I was in Cleveland, Ohio, for the International
Children's Games and I had kicked off the games. They had all these
kids out in front from all around the world. Right there in my vision
was the Afghan Girls Soccer Team. (Applause.) It was a fantastic
feeling. I can't tell you how proud I was of our country. We believe
in freedom and liberty.
Remember, before September the 11th, Pakistan was a transit point
for al Qaeda. Today, Pakistan is a strong ally in the war on terror.
And America and the world are safer for it. Prior to September the
11th, Libya was a country that had designs on weapons of mass
destruction. Because we acted, because we were clear in our resolve,
Muammar Qaddafi got the message, dismantled his weapons programs.
America and the world are safer. (Applause.)
Before September the 11th, Saddam Hussein was the sworn enemy of
America. Remember, Saddam Hussein's history. He -- he defied the
world, resolution after resolution after resolution. He was firing
weapons at our pilots when our pilots were trying to enforce the
world's sanctions. Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass
destruction. Saddam Hussein paid the families of suicide bombers.
Saddam Hussein harbored terrorists. Remember Abu Nidal? He killed
Leon Klinghoffer. His organization was given safe harbor in Iraq.
Zarqawi, the person who'd just behead somebody because he feels like
it, trying to intimidate the free world, had been given safe haven in
Iraq. Saddam Hussein killed thousands of his own citizens. He was a
threat in a volatile part of the world.
We saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. After September the 11th,
America must deal with threats before they fully materialize.
(Applause.) I made a decision to go to the United States Congress to
seek a resolution of support in case we needed to use force in Iraq. I
say, in case we needed to use force in Iraq -- the use of force should
be the last option of the President of the United States. It certainly
is in my case. And so I went to the Congress, and they looked at the
facts as we saw them, and looked at the intelligence as I saw it. And
they agreed with me that Saddam Hussein was a threat -- they being
members of both political parties looked at the same intelligence,
including my opponent, who looked at the very same intelligence.
(Applause.)
I went to the United Nations. I think it's very important for our
country to try to solve problems and deal with threat diplomatically as
a first resort. So I went to the U.N. I asked them to take a serious
look at Saddam Hussein as a threat to the world. I described how
threats in the post-September the 11th era must be looked at in a new
light. They agreed. You might remember, the United Nations Security
Council passed a resolution 15 to nothing, that said, Saddam Hussein,
disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. The world spoke with
one voice, and yet, once again, he defied the world. Remember, we --
we thought weapons inspectors were a good idea. And yet, he
systematically deceived the weapons inspectors. He wasn't about to
disclose. And as he had for year after year after year, he basically
said, there's no consequences. So I had a choice to make at this point
in time, to forget the lessons of September the 11th and trust a
madman, or take action to defend our country. Given that choice, I
will defend America every time. (Applause.)
You know, even though we didn't find the stockpiles that everybody
thought we would find, Saddam had the capability to make weapons. And
in a post-September the 11th era, the thought of him having that
capacity and that capability, and the thought of him being able to pass
that capability on to our enemies, our sworn enemies who had the
willingness to kill thousands in one attack, was a threat we had to
deal with. Knowing what I know today, I would have still made the same
decision. (Applause.)
And now, almost two years after he voted for the war in Iraq, and
almost 220 days after switching positions to declare himself the
anti-war candidate, my opponent found a -- what I call, a new nuance.
(Laughter.) He now agrees it was the right decision to go into Iraq.
After months of questioning my motives and even my credibility, Senator
Kerry agrees with me that even though we did not find the stockpiles of
weapons that we all believed were there, knowing everything we know
today, he would have voted to go into Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein
from power. I'm glad he cleared that up. (Laughter.) The only -- only
problem is there's 80 more days for him to change his mind. (Laughter
and applause.)
I'm running because there's more to do to defend our country.
We're -- we will work with our friends and allies to pursue these
terrorists around the world. Listen, it's better to defeat them there
than to face them here in our own country. (Applause.) I know you
cannot talk sense to these people. There's the -- you can't negotiate
with them, you cannot hope for the best. It is essential that we be
firm and resolved and steady and stay on the offense against people who
would do us harm.
And the way -- we will, of course, continue to work with our
friends and allies. We've got a vast coalition in support of our goals
-- 60 nations are involved with Proliferation Security Initiative,
there's 40 nations involved in Afghanistan, nearly 30 nations are
involved in Iraq. I thank their leaders all the time. I appreciate so
very much the families of those soldiers who are working side-by-side
with our soldiers to bring peace and freedom to the world with their
great contributions. I have an obligation to continue building and
strengthening alliances, which I will do. But I will never turn over
America's national security decisions to leaders of other foreign
countries. (Applause.)
I'm really proud of our military. Our military has helped us to
keep our commitments. We must keep our commitments to our military.
That's why last September I proposed supplemental funding to support
our troops who are in combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq. This money
was for body armor and vital equipment, hazard pay, health benefits,
ammunition, fuel and spare parts -- an important piece of legislation.
We received great bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.
As a matter of fact, only 12 senators voted against that vital funding
for our troops -- two of whom are my opponent and his running mate.
When questioned about that vote, I found it interesting that he
said this: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted
against it." (Laughter.) End quote. (Laughter.) He got pressured
more and he went on to say he was proud to vote, then he said the whole
thing was a complicated matter. There is nothing complicated about
supporting our troops in combat. (Applause.)
In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone.
We've got to work to change the conditions that give rise to terror,
and that's poverty and hopelessness and resentment. The best way to do
that is to spread freedom. We believe that liberty can change people
for the better.
I oftentimes tell the story about visiting with Prime Minister
Koizumi, a good friend of mine. Laura and I were having dinner with
him one night in Tokyo. And it dawned on me that it was amazing that
here is the leader of America and the leader of Japan sitting around
the table talking about peace. What's amazing is that we were enemies
not all that long ago. As a matter of fact, my dad and I'm sure many
of your dads fought against the Japanese people, bitter enemies.
Fortunately, after World War II, my predecessor and others in positions
of responsibility in Washington believed that liberty could change
Japan for the better. They defied the critics and the pessimists and
said, let's help build a self-governing society based on the principles
of liberty. And, as a result of being -- having such a heartfelt
belief in the fact that liberty can change the habits of people, I'm
now at the table with a former enemy talking about peace.
And this is what -- this is the historic moment we're in in the
world today, as far as I'm concerned. I truly believe that someday, an
elected Iraqi president will be sitting down -- or prime minister --
will be sitting down with the President of the United States talking
about peace, talking about how to make sure our world is a better
place.
See, what's happening is that freedom is beginning to rise up in a
part of the world that is desperate for freedom, a part of the world
where people are resentful because they are not free human beings. And
we believe that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person in this
world. It is the basic belief of the American system. (Applause.)
And so -- I say this to the families of the soldiers I meet. I
tell them their sons and daughters or husbands and wives are on an
incredibly important mission for history. See, when Iraq is free, it
will begin to change the vision of those in Iran who want to be free.
(Applause.) When Iraq is free, it will say to the Palestinians, who
have been subjected to leadership that has not led in their interest,
that it's possible to live at peace with our close friend, Israel.
(Applause.) Freedom will change the habits of people so that peace
prevails in this world. (Applause.)
There are still -- you know, there are still enemies who hate us
and they are plotting to harm us -- that's the world we live in -- and
we've got a lot to do here at home to protect us. I'll just give you
some thoughts about some statements that have been made about our
staying on the offense in the war on terror. My opponent says that
going to war with the terrorists is actually improving their recruiting
efforts. I think the logic is upside-down. I think that shows a
misunderstanding of the enemy. See, remember during the '90s, the
terrorists were recruiting and training for war with us long before,
long before we went to war with them. They don't need an excuse for
their hatred. I think it's wrong to blame our country for the anger
and evil of those killers. See, we don't create terrorists by fighting
back. We defeat the terrorists by fighting back. (Applause.)
We're starting the hard work of reform. I want to -- inside
Washington on homeland security. I want to thank the members of
Congress who are here. We put together a new Department of Homeland
Security, and they're doing good work. There's a lot of good people
working hard on your behalf. The Patriot Act is a very important piece
of legislation. The Patriot Act gives our law enforcement officers the
tools necessary to crack terror networks. It is necessary. Congress
needs to renew the Patriot Act.
We're sharing intelligence -- (applause) -- we're sharing
intelligence better than before. As you recently read, I picked a
really good man out of the United States Congress from Florida, Porter
Goss, to head the Central Intelligence Agency. (Applause.) I'm
looking forward to working with Congress on the creation of the
National Intelligence Director. What I'm telling you is, our
government understands what we need to do to secure ourselves. I
understand, you know, the -- we've got to be right 100 percent of the
time, the enemy only right once. We should take great comfort that
there's people at all levels of government -- really decent, honorable
people -- who are working hard as they possibly can to do their duty
and protect our country. (Applause.)
I talked about reforming in Washington. It's never easy to do
that. Entrenched interests there are pretty strong. The status quo
has got a lot of defenders. But if you think about it, we've gotten
good results for the people, are pushing hard for reform. See, when it
comes to raising standards in schools, and insisting on excellence for
every child, we're getting the job done. When it comes to reforming
Medicare so our seniors have got prescription drugs and insisting that
the doctors and the patients are the center of health care
decision-making, we're getting the job done. When it comes to growing
this economy and creating jobs and enhancing the entrepreneurial
spirit, we're getting the job done. When it comes to defending America
and spreading freedom and peace, we're getting the job done. What I'm
telling you is, when it comes to electing a President, put somebody in
office who can get the job done. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Listen, the world we're in is a
changing world, but there's some things that aren't going to change:
our belief in liberty and opportunity and the non-negotiable demands of
human dignity. They won't change. In a changing world, the values we
try to live by will not change: courage and compassion, reverence and
integrity. In a changing world, there are some just very vital
institutions: our families and our schools, our religious
congregations. These institutions are really important for our
country. They deserve the respect of government. We stand for
institutions marriage and family, which are the foundations of our
society. (Applause.) We stand for a culture of life in which every
person matters and each person counts. (Applause.) We stand for
judges who strictly interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.
(Applause.)
We stand for a culture of responsibility in this country. The
culture is changing, slowly but surely it's changing from one that has
said, if it feels good, do it, and if you've got a problem, blame
somebody else, to a culture in which each of us understands we are
responsible for the decisions we make in life. If you're fortunate
enough to be a mother or a father, you're responsible for loving your
child with all your heart. (Applause.) If you're worried about the
quality of the education in this community, you're responsible for
doing something about it. If you're a CEO in corporate America, you
are responsible for telling the truth to your shareholders and your
employees. (Applause.) And I believe a central tenet of a
responsibility society is each of us should love our neighbor just like
we'd like to be loved ourself. (Applause.)
You know, for all Americans, these years in our history will always
stand apart. There are quiet times in the life of this nation when
little is expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times.
It's a time we need firm resolve and clear vision. This is a time we
must stick to those ideals which make this country such a fabulous
country.
You know, I'll never forget the day I went into the ruins of the
Twin Towers, September the 14th, 2001. There were workers in hard-hats
there yelling at me, "Whatever it takes." I can remember walking,
working the rope line there and shaking hands with people, guys with
bloodshot eyes, and they'd been in the rubble looking for a buddy. He
said, you know, "Mr. President, do not let me down." He took that day
personally. Everybody searching through the rubble took it
personally. I know you took it personally and so did I. I have a duty
that goes on. Every day I wake up thinking about how to better secure
our country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever it
takes. (Applause.)
We have done a lot together. We have done a lot together and we
have done the hard work and there is more hard work to do and I'm ready
for the task. I've got the energy to continue leading this country,
and I know where I want to take us. Over the next four years, we'll be
dedicated to spreading opportunity and ownership to every corner of
America. For the next four years, we will pass the enduring values of
our great land on to another generation. And for the next four years,
we'll be relentless in our pursuit of freedom and peace.
You know, when I traveled your state four years ago, and our
country, I said, if you gave me the high honor of holding this office,
the presidency of the United States, I would uphold the dignity and
honor of that office -- the pledge I made. With your help over the
next four years, I will continue to honor that pledge.
Thanks for coming, and may God bless you all. Thank you for your
support. (Applause.) Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 7:32 P.M. PDT
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