For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 9, 2003
Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception
Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
6:18 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Great to be back in beautiful
Ft. Lauderdale. I appreciate so many folks showing up tonight, and
I'm honored to be introduced by a great Governor. (Applause.) I'm not
surprised he's so successful. We both share the same political
consultant. (Laughter.) Mother. (Laughter and applause.)
This is a fantastic turnout, and I'm so honored you're here. What
we're doing is laying the framework and the foundation for what will be
a great victory in November of 2004. (Applause.) I appreciate your
contributions, but Jeb is right -- we're going to count on you to
energize the grass roots, to make the phone calls and to put up the
signs. And when you go to the coffee shop, you tell them that this
administration is committed to making sure that our country is positive
and hopeful and optimistic for every single citizen who lives in
America. (Applause.)
There's a lot of politics in the air it seems like. And I'm
loosening up, and I'm getting ready. The truth of the matter is the
political season will come in its own time. I've got a job to do.
I've got a job to do on behalf of the American people, and there's a
lot on the agenda. But I will assure you my administration will
continue to work hard to earn the confidence of all Americans, by
keeping this nation secure and strong and prosperous and free.
(Applause.)
I'm sorry Laura didn't travel with me today. Not as sorry as you,
probably. (Laughter.) But I am really proud of Laura. She's a
fabulous wife, great mom and a terrific First Lady for the United
States of America. (Applause.)
I want to thank this cast of characters who is on the stage with me
tonight: my great friend, Al Hoffman, who is the honorary State
Finance Chair; Tom Petway, who is the State Finance co-chair; Zach
Zacharia, the State Finance co-chair; and my friend, Jim Blosser, who
is the event chairman tonight. I want to thank you guys for your hard
work. (Applause.) Thank you all.
Also, I want to thank my friend, Mercer Reynolds, the National
Finance Chairman, from Cincinnati, Ohio, who is taking a lot of time
off to make sure that this campaign is well-funded. I appreciate
members of the statehouse who are here. Johnny Byrd, the Speaker of
the House, is with us today. (Applause.) Other members of the
statehouse, state senators are with us. I want to thank you all for
coming. Make sure you do what brother says to do. (Laughter and
applause.) Most of the time. (Laughter.) I'm honored that our
Attorney General, Charlie Crist is with us today. (Applause.) I know
we've got local officials with us. I particularly want to say thanks
to the Mayor, Jim Naugle of Ft. Lauderdale, and Oliver Parker, Mayor of
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
But most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. This is a big
turnout. It makes me feel pretty spunky to see this many people out
there.
In the last two-and-a-half years, our nation has acted decisively
to confront great challenges. I came to this office to solve problems,
and not pass them on to future presidents and future generations.
(Applause.) I came to seize opportunities instead of letting them slip
away. This administration is meeting the tests of our time.
(Applause.)
Terrorists, cold-blooded killers declared war on the United States
of America, and war is what they got. We have captured or killed many
key leaders of al Qaeda, and the rest of them know we're on their
trail. In Afghanistan and Iraq, we gave ultimatums to terror regimes.
Those regimes chose defiance, and those regimes are no more.
(Applause.) Think about this: 50 million people who once lived under
tyranny in those two countries now live in freedom, thanks to the
United States of America and our friends and allies. (Applause.)
Two-and-a-half years ago, our military was not receiving the
resources it needed and morale was beginning to suffer. So we
increased the defense budgets to prepare for the threats of a new era.
And today, no one in the world can question the skill and the strength
and the spirit of the United States military. (Applause.)
Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession.
And then the attacks came on our country, and we had scandals in
corporate America, and war -- all affected the people's confidence.
But we acted. We passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to
account. And to get the economy going again, I have twice led the
United States Congress to pass historic tax relief. (Applause.)
I know that when Americans have more take-home pay to spend, to
save, or to invest, the whole economy grows and people are more likely
to find a job. I also know whose money we spend in Washington, D.C.
We do not spend the government's money; we spend the people's money.
(Applause.) We're returning the money to the people so they can better
raise their families. We're reducing taxes on dividends and capital
gains to encourage investment. We're giving small businesses
incentives to expand, and therefore, to hire new workers. With all
these actions, we are laying the foundation for greater prosperity and
more jobs so that everybody in America has a chance to realize the
great promise of our country.
Two-and-a-half years ago there was a lot of talk about education
reform, but there wasn't much action. So I acted. I called upon the
Congress to pass the No Child Left Behind Act. And with a solid
bipartisan majority, we delivered the most dramatic education reforms
in a generation. We bring high standards and strong accountability to
every public school in America. (Applause.)
We are challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, because we
believe every child can learn the basics of reading and math, and we
insist that every school teach the basics of reading and math. In
return for federal money, we're now asking schools to show us whether
or not children are learning to read and write and add and subtract.
We're providing extra resources to make sure that not one single child
is left behind in America. (Applause.)
We reorganized our government to create the Department of Homeland
Security, to better guard our ports and borders, and to protect the
American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open up new
markets for Florida's ranchers and farmers and entrepreneurs and
manufacturers. We passed budget agreements to -- so that we have
much-needed spending discipline in Washington, D.C. On issue after
issue, this administration has acted on principle, we have kept our
word, and we have made progress for the American people. (Applause.)
The Congress gets a lot of credit. I'm happy to work with Speaker
Hastert and Senator Frist. We're working hard to change the tone in
Washington, to get rid of all the needless politics, to elevate the
discourse, to focus on results, so the people know we went to the
Nation's Capital to serve -- to serve our country.
And those are the kind of people who I've attracted to my
administration. I have put together a fabulous team on behalf of the
American people -- good, honorable, hardworking, decent Americans.
(Applause.) Our country has had no finer Vice President than Dick
Cheney. (Applause.) Mother may have a second opinion. (Laughter.)
In two-and-a-half years -- two-and-a-half years, we've done a lot.
We have come far, but our work is only beginning. I have set great
goals worthy of a great nation. First, America is committed to
expanding the realm of freedom and peace, not only for our own
security, but for the benefit of the world.
And second, in our own country, we must work for a society of
prosperity and compassion so that every single citizen has a chance to
work and to succeed, and realize the American Dream. It is clear that
the future of peace and freedom depend on the actions of America. This
nation is freedom's home. This nation is freedom's defender. We
welcome this charge of history, and we are keeping it. (Applause.)
Our war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle,
and neither are we. This country will not rest, we will not tire, we
will not stop until this danger to civilization is removed.
(Applause.) We are confronting that danger in Iraq, where Saddam
Hussein holdouts and foreign terrorists are desperately trying to throw
Iraq into chaos by attacking coalition forces, aid workers and innocent
Iraqis. They know that the advance of freedom in Iraq would be a major
defeat for their cause of terror. The collection of killers is trying
to shake the will of the United States of America and the civilized
world. This country will not be intimidated. (Applause.)
We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq. By defeating
them there, we will not have to face them on our own streets. We're
calling other nations to help Iraq build a free country, which will
make us all more secure. We're standing with the Iraqi people as they
assume more of their own defense and move toward self-government.
These are not easy tasks, but they are essential tasks. We will finish
what we have begun and we will win this essential victory in the war on
terror. (Applause.)
Yet I understand that our greatest security comes from the advance
of human liberty. Because free nations do not support terror, free
nations do not attack their neighbors, and free nations do not threaten
the world with weapons of mass terror. Americans believe that freedom
is the deepest need and hope of every human heart, and I believe that
freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation,
including nations like Cuba. (Applause.)
America also understands that unprecedented influence brings
tremendous responsibilities. We have duties in the world. And when we
see disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn
away. On the continent of Africa, this great, strong, compassionate
nation is now committed to bringing the healing power of medicine to
millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS. This
great land is leading the world in this incredibly important work of
human rescue.
We face challenges at home, as well. And our actions will prove
that we are equal to those challenges. So long as anybody who wants to
work cannot find a job, I will continue to work to create an
environment that emphasizes job growth.
As well, we must keep our duty and commitment to America's seniors
by strengthening and modernizing Medicare. Congress took historic
action to improve the lives of older Americans. For the first time
since the creation of Medicare, the House and the Senate have passed
reforms to increase choices for our seniors and to provide coverage for
prescription drugs. It is now time for the House and the Senate to
iron out their differences, to modernize Medicare not only for the
seniors who are depending upon Medicare today, but for those of us who
will be depending upon Medicare tomorrow. We have an obligation to the
future of this country. (Applause.)
For the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on the
frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. (Applause.) I
appreciate Jeb's leadership on this issue here in the state of
Florida. Listen, people who have been harmed by a bad doctor of course
deserve their day in court. The system should not reward lawyers who
are simply fishing for rich settlements. (Applause.)
Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, they
affect the federal budget. Medical liability reform is a national
issue that requires a national solution. I have put out a good reform
plan for medical liability. The House acted; it is stuck in the
Senate. Senators must understand we need to change the system. No one
has ever been healed in America because of a frivolous lawsuit.
(Applause.)
I have a responsibility as President to make sure the judicial
system runs well, and I have met that duty. I have nominated superb
men and women to the federal courts, people who will interpret the law,
not legislate from the bench. (Applause.) Some members of the United
States Senate are trying to keep my nominees off the bench by blocking
up or down votes. Every judicial nominee deserves a fair hearing and
an up or down vote on the floor of the United States Senate.
(Applause.) It is time for some members of the United States Senate to
stop playing politics with American justice. (Applause.)
Our Congress needs to complete work on a comprehensive energy
plan. It should be clear to the Congress that we need to modernize our
electricity grid. (Laughter.) We have put forth a plan to do so. We
must promote energy efficiency and more conservation. We must use our
technologies to discover new sources of energy. We must use technology
to find more energy here at home in environmentally friendly ways. For
the sake of economic security, and for the sake of national security,
this nation must become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
Our strong and prosperous nation must also be a compassionate
nation. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate
conservatism. We will apply the best and most innovative ideas to the
task of helping our fellow citizens who hurt. There are still millions
of men and women who want to end their dependence on government and
become independent through hard work. We must build on the success of
welfare reform to bring work and, therefore, dignity, into the lives of
more of our fellow citizens.
Congress should complete the citizen service act so that more
Americans can serve their communities and their country. And the
Congress should reach agreement on my faith-based initiative to support
the armies of compassion, Christian, Jew, Hindu, and Muslim, all of
whom are serving our country by mentoring children, by caring for the
homeless and by offering hope to the addicted. Our nation should not
fear faith. We should welcome faith into the compassionate delivery of
those who hurt. (Applause.)
A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including
the independence and the dignity that come from ownership. This
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society
in America. We want more people owning their own home. We have a
minority home ownership gap in America, and I have submitted plans to
the United States Congress to close that gap.
We want more Americans owning and managing their own health care
accounts. We want more Americans owning and managing their own
retirement accounts. We want more Americans starting their own small
business, because we understand in the Bush administration that when a
person owns something, he or she has a vital stake in the future of our
country. (Applause.)
In a compassionate society, people respect one another and they
take responsibility for the decisions they make. We're changing the
culture of America from one that has said, if it feels good, just go
ahead and do it, and if you've got a problem, blame somebody else, to a
culture in which each of us understands that we are responsible for the
decisions we make in life. If you're lucky enough to be a mom or a
dad, you're responsible for loving your child with all your heart and
all your soul. (Applause.) If you're concerned about the quality of
the education in your 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 in this new responsibility society, each of us is
responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved
ourself.
We can see the culture of service and the culture of responsibility
growing around us here in America. It was right after 9-11-2001 I
started what's called the USA Freedom Corps, to encourage Americans to
extend a compassionate hand to a neighbor in need. And the response
has been great. Our faith-based organizations are vibrant and strong.
Our charities are doing well here in America. People understand the
call to serve something greater than yourself in life, just like our
policemen and firefighters, and people who wear our nation's uniform.
Once again, the children of America believe in heroes, because they see
them every day. (Applause.)
And in these challenging times, the world has seen the resolve and
the courage of America. And I've been privileged to see the compassion
and the character of the American people. All the tests of the last
two-and-a-half years have come to the right nation.
We're a strong country, and we use our strength to defend the
peace. We're an optimistic country, confident in ourselves and in
ideals better than ourselves. Abroad, we seek to lift up whole nations
by spreading freedom. At home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading
opportunity to every corner of America. This is the work that history
has set before us. We welcome it. And we know that for our country,
and for our cause, the best days lie ahead.
Thank you for coming. May God bless.
END 6:42 P.M. EDT
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