For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
August 12, 2004
VP's Remarks in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton Convention Center
Dayton, Ohio
10:15 A.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you
all very much. Thank you for that warm welcome. And, Mike, thank you
for that introduction. He does a superb job, by the way, for Dayton
and Ohio as a member of the United States Congress. It's a pleasure to
work with him. And I know John Boehner is here today, as well, too.
You're very well represented in the U.S. Congress.
I served in the House of Representatives, as Mike pointed out. I
was the congressman from Wyoming, elected to six terms. And Wyoming
only had one member of the House. It was a small delegation.
(Laughter.) But it was quality. (Laughter and applause.) But I
became a pretty good judge of those people you can count on who make a
difference in the House of Representatives, and Mike and John are two
of those.
We're delighted to back in Dayton, Ohio today. And Dayton, of
course, has been a proud, enterprising American city for some 200 years
now. And by the looks of things today, Dayton is Bush-Cheney country.
(Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I accept. (Laughter.) Now, I know your
senators couldn't be here today. But one of my jobs as Vice President
is to serve as the President of the Senate, so I get to spend a lot of
time with our friends up there. And I've known Mike DeWine and George
Voinovich for years, and they do a superb for the state of Ohio, and
for the United States. (Applause.)
And it's my privilege today to bring greetings to everybody in
Dayton from the President of the United States, George W. Bush.
(Applause.) The President and I are tremendously grateful for our
many supporters here in Ohio. We were proud to carry Ohio back in
2000. We're going to work hard to earn the votes of the people all
over the state again this year. And come November, with your help,
Ohio will be part of a nationwide victory for the Bush-Cheney team.
(Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: As you might have heard, there was a bit of a
political gathering up in Boston a few weeks ago. (Laughter.) It's
now official -- I have an opponent. (Laughter.) No, I really do. I
have an opponent. People keep telling me that Senator Edwards got
picked for his good looks, his charm, and his great hair. I explain to
them, "How do you think I got the job?" (Laughter and applause.)
Now, we are in the midst of an extraordinarily important election
campaign -- maybe the most important in my lifetime. This election
could not come at a more crucial time in our history. Today we face an
enemy every bit as intent on destroying us as the Axis powers were in
World War II, or the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. This
enemy, in the words of the 9/11 Commission report released recently, is
"sophisticated, patient, disciplined, and lethal." What the enemy
wants, as the 9/11 report explains, is to do away with democracy, to
end all rights for women, and to impose their way of life on the rest
of us. And as we saw on the morning of 9/11, this enemy is perfectly
prepared to slaughter anyone -- man, woman, or child -- who stands in
the way.
This is not an enemy that we can reason with or negotiate with or
appease. This is, to put it simply, an enemy that we must destroy.
And with President Bush as our Commander-in-Chief, that is exactly what
we are going to do. (Applause.)
In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on America, people in
every part of the country, regardless of party, took pride and comfort
in the conduct of our President. They saw a man calm in a crisis,
comfortable with responsibility, and determined to do everything
necessary to protect our people.
Under the President's leadership, we have driven the Taliban from
power in Afghanistan and closed down the camps where terrorists trained
to kill Americans. (Applause.) Under the President's leadership, we
rid the world of a gathering threat by eliminating the regime of Saddam
Hussein. (Applause.) Sixteen months ago, Saddam Hussein controlled
the lives and the future of nearly 25 million people. Today, he is in
jail. (Applause.)
A year ago, Libya had a secret nuclear weapons program. But after
our forces ousted Saddam, and captured him in his hiding spot north of
Baghdad, Libya's leader, Moammar Ghaddafi, had a change of heart. He
turned over control of Libya's programs including the uranium, the
centrifuges, the weapons plans, and today they are they are under
American lock and key down at Oak Ridge, in Tennessee. (Applause.)
We've also shut down the secret network based in Pakistan that was
the world's most dangerous supplier of illegal nuclear weapons
technology. We've put terrorist financers out of office, and
dismantled terror cells worldwide. And most of the planners of the
9/11 attacks have now been captured or killed -- including Khalid Sheik
Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11.
We could not have succeeded in these efforts, without the help of
dozens of countries around the world. Now if you were to listen to our
opponents in this election, you would think that America was fighting
the war on terror all alone. Nothing could be further from the truth
-- or more insulting to our allies. Terrorists have been killed or
captured because of the efforts of our partners in Pakistan and Turkey,
in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya and Malaysia. France and Germany have had
troops alongside ours in Afghanistan. Great Britain, Australia, Italy,
Poland, South Korea, the Ukraine, Japan and more than 20 other nations
have contributed troops for the freedom of the Iraqi people. And as we
fight the global war on terror, we have the support of Canada and
Mexico, of Colombia, Jordan, and Morocco, of India, Paraguay, Denmark,
the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Algeria, Uzbekistan,
Egypt, Singapore, and Russia -- and the list of those who have joined
with us in the global war on terror goes on. Remember this list -- and
remember how long it is -- the next time you hear Senator Kerry say
America does not have allies. (Applause.)
We are proud of our allies' contributions to the common effort. We
will always seek international support for international efforts, but
as President Bush has made very clear, there is a difference between
leading a coalition of many nations and submitting to the objections of
a few. This President will never seek a permission slip to defend the
United States of America. (Applause.)
Under the President's leadership, we have taken unprecedented steps
to protect the American people here at home. To give law enforcement
the tools they need to track down terrorists, we passed the Patriot
Act. To focus our government on the mission of protecting the American
people, we created the Department of Homeland Security. To fund
cutting edge drugs and other defenses against the possibility of an
attack with biological weapons, we set up Project BioShield.
But a good defense is not enough, and so we have also gone on the
offense in the war on terror -- but the President's opponent, Senator
Kerry, sometimes seems to object. He has even said that by using our
strength, we are creating terrorists and placing ourselves in greater
danger. But that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the
world we are living in works. Terrorist attacks are not caused by the
use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness.
(Applause.)
Senator Kerry has also said that if he were in charge he would
fight a "more sensitive" war on terror. (Laughter.) America has been
in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won
by being sensitive. President Lincoln and General Grant did not wage
sensitive warfare -- nor did President Roosevelt, nor Generals
Eisenhower and MacArthur. A "sensitive war" will not destroy the evil
men who killed 3,000 Americans and who seek the chemical, nuclear and
biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands more. The men who
beheaded Daniel Pearl and Paul Johnson will not be impressed by our
sensitivity. As our opponents see it, the problem isn't the thugs and
murderers that we face, but our attitude. Well, the American people
know better. They know that we are in a fight to preserve our freedom
and our way of life, and that we are on the side of rights and justice
in this battle. Those who threaten us and kill innocents around the
world do not need to be treated more sensitively. They need to be
destroyed. (Applause.)
I listened to what Senator Kerry had to say in Boston, and, with
all due respect to the Senator, he views the world as if we had never
been attacked on September 11th. The job of the Commander-in-Chief, as
he sees it, is to use America's military strength to respond to
attacks. But September 11th showed us, as surely as anything can, that
we must act against gathering dangers - not wait for to be attacked.
That awful day left some 3,000 of our fellow citizens dead, and
everything we have learned since tells us the terrorists would do worse
if they could, and that they will even use chemical, biological, or
nuclear weapons against us if they can. In the world we live in now,
responding to attacks is not enough. We must do everything in our
power to prevent attacks -- and that includes using military force.
(Applause.)
In his convention speech, Senator Kerry invited us to judge him by
his record, and that seems like a pretty good idea. (Laughter and
applause.) As he frequently reminds people, he was once a member of
the Senate Intelligence Committee, and what was his record there?
Well, to begin with, he attended less than 25 percent of the
intelligence committee's public meetings. In the aftermath of the
first terror attack on the World Trade Center, Senator Kerry put
forward two measures to gut the intelligence budget by $7.5 billion.
His first proposal was voted down 75 to 20. Not even Senator Ted
Kennedy, from his own state, would vote for it. When he proposed his
second bill, he was unable to find a single co-sponsor for it. Even
after this the -- even after this attack on the World Trade Center,
Senator Kerry proposed legislation so harmful to our intelligence
capabilities -- so extreme and out of the mainstream -- that even his
fellow Democrats refused to support it.
The Senator has taken lately to portraying himself as a champion of
strengthening our intelligence, but looking at the record, as he has
invited us to do, paints a picture that ought to give us pause. The
American people deserve a Commander-in-Chief who truly understands the
need for intelligence capabilities, a leader who appreciates the vital
work done by the men and women of our nation's intelligence community.
They have had many successes that will forever go unheralded, and they
deserve our gratitude. (Applause.)
We also have important differences with the Kerry-Edwards record
when it comes to providing for our men and women in uniform. And
there's one story that makes that about as clear as anything could be.
It starts with Senators Kerry and Edwards voting yes when the President
asked the Congress to authorize the use of force against Saddam
Hussein. But then, when it came time to vote for funds that would
provide our fighting men and women with body armor, ammunition, jet
fuel, and spare parts, Senators Kerry and Edwards voted no. Only 12
members of the United States Senate opposed the funding that would
provide vital resources for our troops. Only four Senators voted for
the use of force and against the resources our men and women in uniform
needed once they were in combat. Only four. And Senators Kerry and
Edwards were two of those four.
At first Senator Kerry said that he didn't really oppose the
funding. He both supported and opposed it. He said, and I quote, "I
actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it." Well,
that certainly clears things up. (Laughter.) But lately he's been
saying he's proud that he and John Edwards voted no, and he explains
that his decision was "complicated." But funding American troops in
combat should never be a complicated question. (Applause.)
It's simply wrong to vote to commit our troops to combat and then
refuse to provide them with the resources they need. We need a
President who will back our troops 100 percent, and that's exactly what
we've got in George W. Bush. (Applause.)
President Bush knows that our dedicated servicemen and women
represent the very best of the United States of America. And I want to
thank them and all the veterans here today for what they've done for
all of us. (Applause.) One of the most important commitments that
George W. Bush and I made during the 2000 campaign was that our armed
forces would be given the resources they need and the respect they
deserve -- and we have kept our word to the U.S. military. (Applause.)
These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds,
saying one thing one day and another, the next. Our country requires
strong and consistent leadership for our actions overseas, and the same
is true for our policies here at home. When President Bush and I stood
on the inaugural platform on the west side of the Capitol and took the
oath of office, our economy was sliding into recession. Then, on 9/11,
terrorists struck our nation and shook the economy once again. We
faced a basic decision -- to leave more money with families and
businesses, or to take more of the American people's hard-earned money
for the federal government. President Bush made his choice. He
proposed and he delivered tax savings to the American people -- not
once, not twice, but three times. (Applause.)
Thanks to the Bush tax cuts, consumers are confident, businesses
are investing, and families are taking home more of what they earn.
Mortgage rates, and interest rates, and inflation are all low. America
has created jobs for 11 consecutive months -- about 1.5 million new
jobs since last August. Here in Ohio, your unemployment rate is 5.8
percent -- down from 6.3 percent last July, and moving in the right
direction. We know there are still challenges, especially in our
manufacturing communities. You should know that the President and I
will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a
job. But this is a strong economy; it's growing stronger. The Bush
tax cuts are working. (Applause.)
Our accomplishments these past four years have made America safer,
stronger, and better. They also demonstrate something about the
character of our President. He did not go to the White House to mark
time, or to spend his energy on small issues. He went to take on the
big issues, and to make serious reforms. He has led with confidence,
with clear vision, and with unwavering purpose. He's made hard
choices, and he's kept his word. And that's exactly how he will lead
this country for the next four years. (Applause.)
In our second term, we'll keep moving forward with a pro-growth,
pro-jobs agenda. We will work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.
(Applause.) We will work to help end lawsuit abuse because we know
that it's a lot easier for American businesses to hire workers if they
don't have to keep hiring lawyers. (Applause.)
We will work for medical liability reform. America's doctors
should be able to spend their time healing patients, not fighting off
frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.)
In our second term, we will continue to move forward on a
comprehensive energy policy and make this nation less dependent on
foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
Our opponents have a very different vision for the country. They
talk about jobs, yet they never explain how they would put a single
American back to work. They opposed our tax relief, and now they're
proposing massive increases in federal spending. They helped block the
energy plan in the Senate. They oppose effective reform of our legal
system, and they're against medical liability reform. Their big idea
for the economy: raise our taxes. What we're hearing from the other
side is the failed thinking of the past -- and we're not going back.
(Applause.)
President Bush and I will also continue to defend our society's
fundamental rights and values. We stand for a culture of life, and we
reject the brutal practice of partial birth abortion. (Applause.) We
stand strongly for the Second Amendment, and we will defend the
individual right of every American to bear arms. (Applause.) We
believe that our nation is "one nation under God." (Applause.) And we
believe that Americans ought to be able to say "under God" when they
pledge allegiance to their flag. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We have a situation in the United States
Senate where Democrats -- including Senators Kerry and Edwards -- are
using the filibuster to block the President's sensible, mainstream
nominations to the judiciary. Recently, they used their obstructionist
tactics to keep the Senate from voting on four nominees that the
President had sent forward. One of them was Bill Myers, a close friend
of mine, a fine man with widespread bipartisan support for his personal
integrity, his judicial temperament, and his legal experience. If Bill
Myers had made it to an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor, he clearly
had the vote to have been confirmed to the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals, which, by the way, is the circuit that decided we should not
say "under God" when we pledge allegiance to the flag. Sounds to me
like we could use some new judges on the Ninth Circuit. (Applause.)
What the Democrats are doing -- filibustering judges -- is simply
outrageous, and that's another very good reason to send George
Voinovich back to the United States Senate. (Applause.)
On issue after issue, President Bush has a clear vision for the
future of the nation. Abroad, he will use America's great power to
serve great purposes, to protect our homeland by turning back and
defeating the forces of terror, and to spread hope and freedom around
the world. Here at home, he will continue building prosperity that
reaches every corner of the land so that every child in America has a
chance to learn, to succeed, and to rise in the world.
The President and I are honored by your confidence in us, and by
your commitment to the cause we all share. We're grateful to our many
friends across the state of Ohio. Thanks for the tremendous welcome
today. We're proud to be part of your team. And together, on November
2nd, we're going to see our cause forward to victory.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 10:40 A.M. EDT
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