For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
April 19, 2004
Remarks by the Vice President at a Luncheon for Congressional Candidate Kevin Triplett
Wyndham Roanoke Airport Hotel
Roanoke, Virginia
12:05 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you all very
much. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. Eat your heart out,
George Allen. (Laughter.)
Well, I appreciate that introduction, that warm welcome, and it's
great to be back in Roanoke. I'm proud to stand with the next United
States congressman from the ninth district of Virginia, Kevin
Triplett. (Applause.)
And I want to thank all the state legislators and party leaders
today, as well as Congressman Bob Goodlatte. I saw Bob with us
earlier. And I want to say a word about your United States senators,
as well -- George Allen, who is with us today, and John Warner. My
only official duty is as President of the Senate. When they wrote the
Constitution, they created the post of Vice President. But they got
down to the end of the Constitutional Convention, they realized they
had not given him anything to do. (Laughter.) So they made him the
President of the Senate, the presiding officer. And you get to preside
over the United States Senate, cast tie-breaking votes when the Senate
is tied.
And my predecessor John Adams, our first Vice President, also had
floor privileges. He could actually go into the well and engage in
debate and talk about the issues of the day. And then he did a couple
of times, and they withdrew his floor privileges. (Laughter.) So I'm
not allowed to talk, but I do get to vote whenever there is a tie
vote.
But I've had the opportunity to observe your senators in action.
And occasionally, I get a chance to come out and deliver a report card
in their districts. And I'm happy to tell you that George Allen and
John Warner are two of the most respected, hardest working senators in
the entire country. (Applause.)
Now, last Friday, I came back to Washington after a week-long visit
to the Far East. After meetings with leaders in Japan, China, and
South Korea, I made my last stop in Yongsan Garrison, our major U.S.
Army base in downtown Seoul, Korea. We had a tremendous event with the
soldiers and their families there. We have men and women stationed,
like them, all over the world. Many of them, of course, have seen hard
duty, long deployments, and fierce fighting. They've endured the loss
of friends and comrades. I imagine we have more than a few military
families in the room today -- I know we have at least one mother of a
young son recently returned from Iraq -- with a husband, wife, son,
daughter, grandchild, or other family member wearing the uniform
today. I know you're proud of them. Our whole country is proud of
them, and they're proving every day that when we send them to defend
this nation and our interests, we are sending the very best of the
United States of America. (Applause.)
We're all here today to make sure that Kevin Triplett is your next
congressman. Now, I also served in the House of Representatives. I
was Wyoming's congressman for a decade, throughout the 1980s. Wyoming
only has one congressman. It was a small delegation. (Laughter.) But
it was quality. (Laughter.)
But I've come to recognize good horseflesh, like Bob Goodlatte.
And I think I can say with confidence that with Kevin's tremendous
experience, he's done great work in terms of preparing for service in
the United States Congress. As a NASCAR executive, he's shown himself
to be a successful, creative leader, the kind of person who can work
with colleagues from many different backgrounds on both sides of the
aisle. He's optimistic. He's full of energy. And once he's in
Congress, he's going to use all of it for the benefit of the people of
the ninth district of Virginia.
Kevin is a family man, with strong roots here in Southwest
Virginia. He understands the priorities of the people here -- from
creating jobs to improving education, to supporting our military
strength. He'll work hard every day on behalf of the people he
serves. He'll always uphold our commonsense values in Washington,
D.C. President Bush and I are behind him all the way, and we're asking
the people of the ninth district to send Kevin Triplett to the United
States Congress. (Applause.)
President Bush and I have now begun the fourth year of our
administration. It's been a period defined by serious challenges,
different choices, and the need for decisive action. As Kevin knows,
there are many tasks that those of us in public service must take on,
but none is more important than working to ensure that the citizens of
this great country are safe and secure.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 signaled the arrival of an
entirely new era. We suffered massive civilian casualties on our own
soil. We awakened to dangers even more lethal -- the possibility that
terrorists could gain chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from
outlaw regimes and turn those weapons against the United States.
Remembering what we saw on the morning of 9/11, and knowing the
nature of our enemies, we have as clear a responsibility as could ever
fall to government, we must do everything in our power to protect our
people from terrorist attack, and to keep terrorists from ever
acquiring weapons of mass destruction. (Applause.)
This great and urgent responsibility has required a shift in our
national security strategy. For many years prior to 9/11, terror
attacks against Americans were treated as isolated incidents and
answered, if at all, on an ad hoc basis -- rarely in a systematic way.
Even after an attack inside our own country in 1993, when they bombed
the World Trade Center in New York, there was a tendency to treat
terrorist attacks as individual criminal acts to be handled primarily
through law enforcement.
The main perpetrator of that 1993 attack in New York was tracked
down, arrested, convicted, and sent away to serve a 240-year sentence.
Yet behind that man was a growing network with operatives inside and
outside the United States, waging war against our country.
In 1996, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, first
proposed to Osama bin Laden that they use hijacked airliners to attack
targets in the United States. In 1996 and again in 1998, Osama bin
Laden declared war on the United States.
During this period, thousands of terrorists were trained at al
Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. And we've seen the work of terrorists now
in many attacks since 9/11 all over the world -- in Riyadh, Casablanca,
Istanbul, Karbala, Mombasa, Bali, Jakarta, Najaf, Baghdad, and Madrid.
The President and I understand -- and Kevin understands -- that
America requires an aggressive strategy against these enemies -- not
merely to prosecute a series of crimes, but to fight and win a global
campaign against the terror networks. Such an enemy cannot be
deterred, cannot be contained, appeased, or negotiated with, it can
only be destroyed. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the business at
hand. (Applause.)
In Afghanistan, we've removed the brutal Taliban from power,
destroyed the al Qaeda training camps. In Iraq, America and our allies
rid the Iraqi people of a murderous dictator, and rid the world of a
menace to our peace and security. Just over a year ago, Saddam Hussein
controlled the lives and the future of almost 25 million people --
today, he's in jail. He will never again brutalize the Iraqi people,
never again support dangerous terrorists, or pursue weapons of mass
destruction, never again threaten the United States of America.
(Applause.)
We still face serious challenges in Afghanistan and Iraq, but we
have made enormous progress. In Afghanistan, there's a new
constitution. Free elections will be held later this year. In Iraq, a
new basic law has been signed. This is an historic achievement, and a
landmark document in that region. And we're getting ready to begin to
transfer sovereign authority back to the Iraqis on June 30th.
America has been extremely fortunate during these times of testing
to have the dedicated service of the men and women who wear America's
uniform. This whole nation is grateful for the service and sacrifice
of our military in the cause of freedom. (Applause.)
These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds,
saying one thing one day and another the next. We need a
Commander-in-Chief of clear vision and steady determination. And
that's just what we have in President George W. Bush. (Applause.) And
that measure must be applied to the candidate who now opposes him in
the election of 2004, the Junior Senator from Massachusetts.
In one of Senator Kerry's recent observations about foreign policy
he informed his listeners that he's met with unnamed foreign leaders
who support him. A voter in Pennsylvania recently asked Senator Kerry
directly who these foreign leaders are. Tim Russert did yesterday.
Senator Kerry said, "That's none of your business."
But it is our business when a candidate for President claims the
political endorsement of foreign leaders. American voters are the ones
charged with determining the outcome of this election, not unnamed
foreign leaders. (Applause.)
Senator Kerry has also asserted that our troops in Iraq are not
receiving the materiel support they need. And I'd like to remind the
Senator that last fall, at the President's request, Congress considered
legislation providing support for the troops -- funding for body armor,
hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel and spare parts for the
military. Senator Kerry was asked whether he would vote against the
President's request. He said, quote, "I don't think any United States
senator is going to abandon our troops. That's irresponsible." End
quote. The legislation passed overwhelmingly with a vote in the Senate
of 87 to 12. Senator Kerry voted "no."
As a way to clarify the matter, Senator Kerry recently said,
quote: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against
it." (Laughter.) End quote. The Senator is clearly free to vote as he
wishes, but he should be held to his own standard. It is irresponsible
to vote against vital support for the U.S. military.
On the broader picture, Senator Kerry has questioned whether the
war on terror is really a war at all. Recently he said, I don't want
to use that terminology. In his view, opposing terrorism is far less
of a military operation and more of a law enforcement operation.
As we've seen, however, that approach was tried before and proved
entirely inadequate to protecting the American people from terrorists
who are quite certain they are at war with us.
I leave it for Senator Kerry to explain, or explain away his votes
and his statements about the war on terror, our cause in Iraq, and the
needs of the American military. Whatever the explanation, it is not an
impressive record for someone who aspires to become Commander-in-Chief
in this time of testing for our country.
The American people will have a clear choice in the election of
2004, on national security, as well as on policies here at home. When
the President and I took office, the economy was sliding into
recession. Then, just as the economy began to recover, terrorists
struck our nation and shook our economy once again. President Bush has
taken strong, confident steps to get the economy growing again.
Working with our allies on Capitol Hill, the President has signed into
law significant tax relief for millions of American families and
businesses. We doubled the child tax credit, decreased the marriage
penalty, cut tax rates across the board, and we have put the death tax
on the way to extinction. (Applause.)
Now, we're seeing the results of the President's policy. Last
month, the economy added over 300,000 new jobs, and we've created more
than 750,000 jobs since last August. In the second half of last year,
our economy grew at an annual rate of nearly 6.2 percent, its fastest
pace in nearly two decades, and the highest rate of any major
industrialized nation in the world. The home ownership rate is at the
highest ever. Interest rates and inflation are low. Manufacturing
activity is increasing. Productivity is high. Business investment is
rising. Incomes are growing strongly. America's economy is moving in
the right direction.
The American people are using their money far better than the
government would have, and Congress was right to let them keep it. As
you know, there are voices in the land who want to roll back the Bush
tax cuts. If elected, Senator Kerry has promised to repeal the Bush
tax cuts his first hundred days in office.
That isn't surprising when you consider his record on taxes. Over
the years, Senator Kerry has voted over 350 times for higher taxes on
the American people, including the biggest tax increase in American
history. For the sake of long-term growth and job-creation, we ought
to do exactly the opposite of what Senator Kerry proposes: We should
make the Bush tax cuts permanent and practice spending discipline in
Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
Tax cuts started this economic recovery. To strengthen it, we need
to protect small business owners and employees from frivolous lawsuits
and needless regulation. We need to control the cost of health care by
passing medical liability reform. (Applause.) Here in Virginia, and
across the nation, good doctors should be able to spend their time
healing patients, not fighting off frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.) We
need to pass sound energy legislation to modernize our electricity
system and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
It is also time for the United States Senate to get about the
business of confirming President Bush's judicial nominees. (Applause.)
The President has put forward talented, experienced men and women who
represent the mainstream of American law and American values. Yet
Senate Democrats have taken to waging filibusters, denying up-or-down
votes for months, and even years. That's unfair to the nominees, and
it is an abuse of the constitutional process. Every nominee deserves a
prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And that's another reason
why we need more Republicans like John Warner and George Allen in the
United States Senate. (Applause.)
On issue after issue, from national security, to economic growth,
to improving our schools, President Bush has led the way in making
progress for the American people. Kevin has made his voice heard on
these issues, and once he's in Congress, he's going to be a valuable
partner for us in achieving these great goals.
President Bush has a clear vision for the future of the nation:
Abroad, we will use America's great power to serve great purposes, to
turn back the forces of terror, and to spread hope and freedom
throughout the world.
Here at home, we will continue building prosperity that reaches
every corner of the land so that every child who grows up in the United
States will have a chance to learn, and to succeed, and to rise in the
world.
Once again, I want to thank all of you for your commitment to the
cause we all share. It's an honor to join you in supporting Kevin's
energetic, optimistic campaign. Kevin Triplett has the right
background, and the right ideas for the ninth district of Virginia.
He's going to make a great congressman, and we look forward to working
with him for a good many years to come.
Thank you. (Applause.)
END 12:26 P.M. EDT
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