For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 13, 2002
Remarks by the President in Ryan for Governor Luncheon
Sheraton Chicago Hotel
Chicago, Illinois
12:11 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you for that warm Chicago welcome. I
appreciate your kind remarks, Governor. (Laughter and applause.) I
want to thank you all for coming. Pat, thanks for your leadership.
And I want to thank you all for supporting this good, honorable man to
be become the next governor of the state of Illinois. (Applause.)
I want to thank all the grass-roots advocates who are here, those
who man the phones and stuff the envelopes and get out the vote. I
want to thank you for what you've done in the past. And I want to
thank you for what you're fixing to do. I can just see the headlines:
Ryan replaces Ryan. (Laughter.) Durkin defeats Durbin. (Applause.)
And I want to thank Marie. We had our picture taken with the Ryan
family. I thought it was never going to end. That's a good sign.
(Laughter.) If all the Ryans vote, it's a landslide. (Laughter.) But
I want to thank Marie -- Mother's Day must have been a heck of a day
for you, with all those kids. And I want to thank the sons and
daughter who are here. Maria has got four sons and a daughter. It
reminds me of another name in American politics -- Barbara has got four
sons and a daughter. The difference is, is that your sons must be
treating you better. You don't have any white hair. (Laughter.)
But I want to thank you for being a great wife, and soon to be a
great First Lady of the state of Illinois. (Applause.) And to you
boys out there, you listen to your mother. (Laughter.) I'm still
listening to mine. (Laughter.)
Speaking about great First Ladies, I'm sorry that Laura can't be
with us today. She is off to Europe. And she's going to represent our
country in the Czech Republic and Hungary and France. And then I'm
going to team up with her there in about nine days. I bring her up
just to -- you know, when I married Laura, she was a public school
librarian. She wasn't really interested in politics. And if the truth
be known, she really didn't care for politicians. (Laughter.) But
thankfully, she agreed to marry me, and now the American people are
beginning to see why. She is calm and she is steady. She's got great
values and a huge heart. A lot of people are still wondering why she
said, yes. But she sends her love, and wishes you all the best.
(Applause.)
And I appreciate Senator Hawkinson being here, the next Lt.
Governor for the state of Illinois. Thank you for coming, Senator.
(Applause.) Members from the Illinois delegation are here -- some of
them looking for a ride back to D.C., I suspect. (Laughter.) Just
depends on how you vote. (Laughter and applause.) But I appreciate
Senator Peter Fitzgerald for coming tonight -- today. Peter, where are
you? Thank you, Peter. (Applause.)
I think Chairman Henry Hyde thought I was teasing him. I told him
today I was announcing the fact that Russia and United States agreed to
a treaty to substantially reduce our offensive nuclear weapons. It is
a treaty that will change the relationship between Russia and the
United States for the better, for world peace. Mr. Chairman, I'm
serious about talking to you about this treaty when we fly back to
Washington. Henry Hyde, thank you for coming. (Applause.) He's what
we call a solid citizen.
And so are the other members of the congressional delegation who
are here -- Mark Kirk, Jerry Weller, Judy Biggert, as well as Ray
LaHood. I appreciate you all coming, as well. (Applause.) I
mentioned the fact that Durkin is going to beat Durbin. I want to
thank Jim Durkin for being here and for running for the United States
Senate. (Applause.) I appreciate the Lt. Governor, Corinne Wood, for
being here. Thank you for coming, Corinne. (Applause.) And the State
Treasurer -- and the old State Treasurer, Judy Baar. (Applause.)
Where is she? Thank you, Judy. Yes, just kidding -- well.
(Laughter.)
And finally -- well, not quite finally -- I'm glad to see my old
friend, Pate Philip. Pate, thank you for coming. I appreciate you
being here. I remember going to your great county more than once to
learn the lessons of good politics at the foot of a master. Mr.
Senator, thank you for being here. (Applause.) And I appreciate Lee
Daniels being here, as well. Lee, thank you for your leadership and
your strong, strong support for the next governor. Thank you, Lee.
(Applause.)
Now I'm getting to the finally. I had the honor of knowing two
great governors -- past governors -- who are here with us today -- big
Jim Thompson, and Jim Edgar. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) I
appreciate you, Edgar. (Applause.)
I'm proud to support Jim Ryan. I appreciate, first of all, his
heart and his philosophy. I call him a compassionate conservative,
somebody who believes like I believe that if you embrace a conservative
philosophy and you have a heart, you can help people. And that's what
government is all about, is to help people help themselves. To
understand the limitations of government, to apply government where it
needs to be applied, but always remember the idea is to make sure the
American experience and the American Dream reaches every corner of our
country. And that's the way Jim thinks. And that's an important
attitude for the people of -- for the governor to have, for all the
people. We're running as proud Republicans. We serve as a proud
American.
I appreciate his strong stand on law enforcement. He's been given
the job as the Attorney General of this state to hold the law, to bring
people to justice, to blow the whistle where a whistle needs to be
blown. And he's done just that. If the people get beyond the rhetoric
in this campaign and look at the record, a record of accomplishment,
the people of Illinois will put this man in the statehouse with the big
numbers, because he has got a record of accomplishment as the Attorney
General. The truth in sentencing law; supports the First Child
Advocacy Center to deal with child abuse, he believes strongly in
school safety. I mean, he's got a record.
And he's got a vision, as well. See, he understands that the
number-one priority of any state has got to be to make sure every
child, every single child is educated. You know, we passed a really
good education reform law in Washington. And it relates to this
campaign. And I'll tell you how in a second. But first, it's amazing
what can happen when you put your country, or your state, ahead of
petty politics.
I was -- and I must confess, it did confuse some of the folks at
the Crawford, Texas coffee shop, when I was traveling around the
country with Theodore Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, thanking him for working on
this bill. But we put it all aside, all the typical Washington, D.C.
bickering and name-calling, and decided to do something right for the
children, and passed a great piece of education reform. (Applause.)
And it starts with setting high standards. It starts with saying
every child can learn in America -- not a few, not just certain kind of
children, but every child. It believes that every child can learn.
That's the way that Jim Ryan thinks.
Secondly, it says that in order to understand whether every child
is learning, we must measure. We must hold people to account as to
whether or not children are learning to read and write and add and
subtract. I've heard all the talk about school accountability. Let me
put it on the line. It is racist and it is wrong not to determine
whether or not children are learning to read and write and add and
subtract. It is a mistake not to measure. (Applause.)
And a system that does not measure -- a system that does not
measure is a system that has low expectations. A system that won't
hold people to account as to whether or not our children are learning
is a system that's more likely just to shuffle kids through, as if they
don't matter. Every child matters in America. And in order to receive
federal money, after I signed this bill, the people of Illinois and
Texas and every state must determine whether children are learning to
read and write and add and subtract. And if they are, we'll praise the
teachers, and they need to be praised. But if not, here's your chance
to change.
If we find children trapped in schools that won't teach and won't
change, you need to change. You need to have a governor who's willing
to blow the whistle on failure. Every child matters. Every child
counts. That's why I'm for Jim Ryan. He's willing to take on the
status quo when he finds children in schools that will not teach.
(Applause.)
And finally, the bill I signed says that the people who care more
about the children in the state of Illinois are the people of
Illinois. It has a strong component of local control. We're passing
power out of Washington. We're giving maximum flexibility at the local
level, so the local folks can chart the path to excellence. Listen,
one size doesn't fit all. One size doesn't fit all when it comes to
the education of the children of the state of Illinois. And you'd
better have you a governor who understands that, and who won't stand
for excuses, and who's willing to innovate when innovation is needed.
The number one priority of any governor in any state has got to be the
education of the children of the state. And Jim Ryan understands
that. (Applause.)
I just came from Big Brown, UPS, where the Mayor, thankfully, was
there to greet me. I appreciate the Mayor a lot. As I said publicly, I
learned one thing -- it's better to have him for you than against you.
(Laughter.) But I appreciate his leadership for this great city. It's
a fabulous city you live in. And we were talking about welfare to
work, and the fact that millions of people have moved from welfare to
work for the betterment of our country. It's helped our country. It's
also helped each individual person when they realize the dignity of
work.
And we were talking about the need to make sure that corporate
Illinois, or corporate America, does its part about helping people go
from welfare to work. Big Brown has hired 52,000 from the welfare
rolls. We had two young ladies, young moms talk about what it means to
go from welfare to work. It's just a compelling story and a great
morning for me.
The reason I bring it up is we're in the midst of reauthorization
of the welfare reform. And it's important for states to continue to
strive for high standards when it comes to deploying resources to help
people find work. It's essential you have a governor who feels
compassionate about each individual and who works hard and tirelessly
to provide the job training necessary and the education necessary so
that Americans can have the dignity of a job.
And so when I talked about advocating maximum flexibility for
states in the welfare to work -- I mean, the welfare reauthorization
bill, it gave me great comfort to know that Jim Ryan is going to be the
next governor of the state of Illinois, because he's cares about people
and he's willing to bring people together to achieve the common
objective.
I'm confident that when you have a man of good values, who knows
what he thinks, who doesn't need to take a poll or focus group to
figure out his direction that he's going to head in life, he's going to
make a good leader for your state. And I'm proud to support him.
(Applause.)
I also look forward to working with your Governor to make sure that
the state of Illinois is prepared to respond should the enemy hit us
again. And they want to. I know that every morning when I go in the
Oval Office and read a threat -- a threat assessment to our country,
they're interested in hitting us again. Kids say, why, why would they
want to do that to America? Because they hate us. And the reason they
hate us is we love freedom. We cherish our freedoms. We love the idea
that people can worship freely in America; that's something we strongly
believe in. They don't like that. And we can speak our minds freely,
and we can come to political gatherings, make our decisions in
freedom. We have free press. We're an open society. That bothers the
enemy a lot.
And they're still out there. And you need to know that we're doing
everything we can, everything in our power, to make the United States
safe. My most important job is to protect innocent Americans. Our law
enforcement agencies are talking like they've never talked before.
Anytime we get a hint of anything, we're sharing information across
jurisdictional boundaries, we're running down every possible lead.
We operate -- proudly operate within the confines of the United
States Constitution. But there is no hint, no lead that is
insignificant, as far as we're concerned.
But you need to know that the most, the best way to secure the
homeland is to chase these killers down, one by one, and bring them to
justice. That's precisely what the United States of America is going
to do. (Applause.)
There's been some interesting lessons. First of all, I always kind
of felt that the farther we got away from September the 11th -- my
worry was the farther we got away, that the more likely it is America
will say, maybe it's not worth it. I'm proud to report that's not the
case. In my travels around our country, I have seen what must make the
enemy feel terrible -- a united, resolved, strong nation, which says
that we'll do whatever it takes to defend the values that we hold
dear. And that's comforting to me, and it's not so comforting to
them.
You know, I can't imagine what was going through their mind when
they attacked. They must have looked at America and said that this
nation is so self-absorbed, so shallow in its materialism, that all
America would likely do is maybe file a couple of lawsuits. They were
wrong. They found out that we are plenty tough. And we're going to
remain tough.
I unleashed a military that should make every one of you proud.
(Applause.) You will read about the budgets I submitted. By the way,
right here in Chicago, I was asked when I was campaigning here, they
said, hey, Mr. President, would you ever have a deficit. I said, only
if there was a war, or a recession, or a national emergency.
(Laughter.) Yeah, we've got one right now. But it's worth it because
we're fighting for freedom. And when we bring some fiscal discipline
to Washington, it's going to help make the deficit short-term.
And I submitted a big budget, no question about it, for defense.
And I did it for a reason. One, anytime we commit our troops into
harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, the best
equipment possible. That's what we owe our military. (Applause.) And
secondly, it is important to show the world that we're in this for the
long run, and that while there may not be dramatic action on your TV
screens on a daily basis, we're making progress. And it's going to
take a while.
This is a new kind of war. This isn't a war of known fronts and
carrier movements and battle stations being manned on a regular basis.
We're facing a shadowy enemy. Look, these are the guys that send
youngsters to their suicide death, and they, themselves, try to hide in
caves.
It's a new form of warfare, and it's going to require incredible
patience. And the American people have got to understand, we're in it
for the long run. Our coalition must understand that we're in it for
the long run. They do; I tell them all the time, see. I say, this is
freedom we're fighting for. This is -- this is -- this is the most
important value that we believe in in America. Either you're with us,
or you're against us, and I expect you to be with us. We're in it for
the long pull, and that's what that budget says. (Applause.)
We've been successful, we've been successful. We enforced the
doctrine that said, if you harbor one -- one being a killer --
you're just as guilty as the killer. And the Taliban found out exactly
what we meant. But in enforcing that doctrine, we showed another side
of America, as well. We showed not only are we tough, not only are we
wise with the military strategy, not only were we able to win a
guerrilla war using interesting new technologies, we liberated a
nation.
I want the young of America to understand that we went into a
country and freed people. We didn't conquer people, we freed people
from the clutches of a barbaric regime that would not even let young
girls go to school. And today, they do in Afghanistan, thanks to the
United States of America. (Applause.)
No, it's going to take a while, but we're making progress. You
just need to know, we really are. We're doing a better job of cutting
off their money, and that's important. We're getting the kind of --
sometimes we're getting a hint where somebody might be trying to hide
out, and we're kind of rallying people to get them. There's countries
that look like they were potential safe havens, a nice place for maybe
the terrorists to train. They're no longer safe havens for the
terrorists.
We're just taking our time, and doing our job. And that's what the
American people want. That's what the coalition is seeing. There's a
lot of people who are out there, saying, probably, gosh, we kind of
hope the United States would grow tired of all this. It would make our
life a lot easier at home. Forget it. (Laughter.) We're not growing
tired of it. My most important job is to protect the security of the
American people, and I take that seriously. I also understand, history
has called us into action, and our country will not blink in the face
of evil. (Applause.)
I also believe that by leading a coalition, and by being firm and
resolute and strong, that out of the evil that has been done to America
will come incredible good, starting with peace. I believe if we're
patient and strong and deliberate, we'll be able to achieve peace. And
that's important to me, and I know it's important to you, as well.
(Applause.) We don't seek revenge as a nation. We seek justice, and we
seek peace.
I also believe that out of the evil can come some incredible good
at home. I believe that. I'm asked all the time by people that say,
what can I do to help on the war against terror. My answer is, love a
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. If you want to fight
evil, do some good. If you want to show the world what we're made out
of, that we're stronger than just military might, why don't you mentor
a child. Teach a child to read. Why don't you go to your church, or
your synagogue, or your mosque, and start an initiative to help folks
who live in pockets of deep despair.
That's how you fight the war against terror, and that's how we can
make an enormous difference in our own country. I truly believe that
America -- the great strength of America is our hearts and souls. And
out of this evil can come some great good. I see it all the time. I
see it in small acts of generosity and kindness that will astound you.
Today at the Meigs Field, I met two folks who have fostered 90
children here in Chicago -- 90 children -- it's unbelievable to think
about that. Two good -- it didn't require a government act, or a
government edict. They just decided to do that. And it happens all
the time in our community. If you really want to fight evil, find out
a way to contribute your time and efforts and money and talent to
making one person's life brighter. That's how we change America. I
like to say, each of us can't do everything, but each of us can do one
thing. See, America changes one heart, one soul, one conscience at a
time.
Out of this evil is going to come good. There's a new attitude in
America about serving something greater than yourself. It was
highlighted to me, and I'm sure most of the country -- and history
should record this moment -- about Flight 93, when you had people on an
airplane. They're flying from one place, one part of our country to
another. They find out the plane is going to be used as a weapon.
They tell their loved ones on the cell phones they love them, they say
a prayer -- and they drive the plane into the ground, to save
somebody's life, to serve something greater than themselves.
I truly believe that out of the evil done to America can come a
sense of serving something greater than a materialistic society. And,
therefore, America is going to be a more hopeful place for all. The
true strength of America is our people. That's the strength of our
country. And I can't tell you how proud I am to be the President of
the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.
Thank you for coming to help Jim. May God bless you, and God bless
America. (Applause.)
END 12:36 P.M. CDT
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