For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
July 31, 2003
Vice President Remark's on 2003 Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award
Marriott Ballroom, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Washington, D.C.
6:04 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate
that warm welcome, and I'm especially honored to be this year's award
winner of the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award. It means a great
deal. And I've got enormous respect for ALEC and for what the
organization stands for. I see many friends from across America out
there tonight. And it's good bring you greetings from President
George W. Bush. He sends you his very best. (Applause.)
For 30 years, the American Legislative Exchange Council has stood
for limited government, for free enterprise, for accountability
for public officials at every level. ALEC has a well deserved
reputation as a bipartisan group of citizens, from both public and
private sectors, joined together by clear principles, and
concerned, above all, with achieving results. President Bush and
I appreciate the good work you do, and we value your advice, and we
appreciate your support.
When the President and I took office two-and-a-half years ago,
we were determined to get beyond the old and tired debates, and
beyond the partisanship that so often dominates this city. We
were determined to solve problems, not just to pass them on to the next
generation. And today I believe there is much to show for these
last two-and-a-half years. Today, I believe the American people can be
confident of a better future, a stronger economy, and greater
security against the dangers of a new era, because of the character
and the convictions of President George W. Bush. (Applause.)
In the weeks following the terrorist attack on America, people
in every part of the country, regardless of party, took great
comfort and pride from the conduct of our President. From that
day to this, the President has led a steady, focused and relentless
campaign against the enemies who struck America and murdered
thousands of our citizens. Of those directly involved in organizing
the September 11th attacks, many are now in custody or confirmed
dead. (Applause.) The al Qaeda has sustained heavy losses. Those
still at large are living in fear, and their fears are well-founded,
because we're on their trail. In Afghanistan -- (applause) -- in
Afghanistan, the Taliban regime brutalized an entire population.
They harbored al Qaeda, and that regime is no more. In Iraq, a
dictator with a deep and bitter hatred of the United States, who
built, possessed and used weapons of mass destruction and cultivated
ties to terrorists, is no more. (Applause.)
Our strategy in the war on terror has been based on a
clear understanding of the enemy, and a clear assessment of
our national interest. Having lost thousands of Americans in a
single morning, we are not going to answer further danger by simply
issuing diplomatic protests or sharply worded condemnations.
(Applause.) We will not wait in false comfort while terrorists
plot against innocent Americans. We will not permit outlaw states
and terror groups to join forces in a deadly alliance that could
threaten the lives of millions of Americans. We will act, and act
decisively, before gathering threats can inflict catastrophic harm on
the American people.
President Bush is acting with equal boldness on the domestic
front. As Governor of Texas, George Bush made education reform a
matter of the highest priority. He followed through by uniting members
of both political parties behind sweeping reforms, then he
promised to do the same as President. Many doubted it could ever
be achieved, yet in a short time, President Bush transformed the
education debate in Washington. He set forth clear principles,
and worked with Congress in a spirit of bipartisanship until
the No Child Left Behind Act became law. Because of that milestone
reform, the days of excuse-making are over, and we are bringing
high standards and accountability to public schools across
America.
Three years ago, we also promised to reduce the federal tax
burden, to let workers and entrepreneurs keep more of their own money,
and to give the economy a needed boost. By the time we took office,
the stock market had been declining for months and the economy was
slipping into recession. Confidence was further shaken by terrorist
attacks, corporate scandals and the uncertainty of war. Under the
President's leadership, we established the Corporate Fraud Task
Force and passed the most sweeping corporate reforms since FDR was in
the White House.
And after the many failed attempts of the 1990s, we now have
trade promotion authority to open new markets for America's farmers,
ranchers and manufacturers. And to help create jobs and get this
economy growing again, we have delivered the largest tax relief
since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. (Applause.)
The President believes that the best way to promote growth and
create jobs is to let Americans keep more of the money they earn.
(Applause.) The more money Americans get to keep after taxes, the
more incentive they will have to work, to save, to invest and to
produce.
In 2001, the President took swift action and signed into law a
tax relief measure that helped make the recession one of the
shallowest in modern history. The Jobs and Growth Package that the
President signed on May 28th of this year reduced tax rates even
further. It increases family budgets through across-the-board tax
relief, provided immediate relief on the child tax credit and marriage
penalty tax relief. We're already seeing results from those tax
reductions. Withholding tables have already been adjusted, so
workers are seeing more money in their paychecks. The Treasury
Department has begun printing and mailing out more than 25 million
child credit checks, providing more than 12 billion dollars to
American families.
The Jobs and Growth Package is also designed to spur confidence
in the markets and business community so businesses will start
investing again and create the jobs that are needed. Here, too,
it's having a positive impact on investment by reducing the taxes on
dividends and capital gains, and by providing incentives for
businesses both large and small to buy new equipment.
Our economy is sound in its fundamentals: Interest rates
and inflation are low. Homeownership is near record-high levels.
Productivity growth is very strong. Business activity is on the
mend. And today, we learned that the economy grew at a rate of
2.4 percent in the second quarter of this year. (Applause.)
We believe the jobs and growth plan has set the stage for even
faster growth in the coming year. We are beginning to see
more business investment in equipment. More and more companies
are declaring a new dividend or increasing the one they already
pay to shareholders. As a result, billions of dollars will go back
into the economy for growth and job creation. And over time, higher
growth will ensure that every American who wants a job can find one.
Besides creating new jobs, pro-growth economic policies
will contribute to higher revenues for our government. These new
revenues -- along with spending discipline in Washington -- are
the surest way to reduce the federal deficit. And although the
deficit for 2003 currently stands at better than $400 billion, it
remains manageable as a share of our $11-trillion economy. The
deficit is not hurting the economy now, especially with interest
rates at their lowest level in decades.
Still, we must bring the deficit down. And under the
President's leadership, Congress agreed to a budget that funds the
war on terror and homeland security, while restraining the growth of
discretionary spending to 4 percent -- or about the same increase as
the average household budget this year. The President intends to
hold Congress to that pledge. With spending discipline and
economic growth, we can cut the deficit significantly over the
next few years.
Some in Congress want to raise taxes on the American people in
order to close the deficit. But raising taxes will not close the
deficit; it will hurt the recovery; and it will encourage more wasteful
spending by the Congress. Now is exactly the wrong time to be raising
taxes. (Applause.)
The President also intends to press ahead on his domestic
agenda. After many years of inaction in Washington, we are working
to strengthen and to improve Medicare by giving the private
sector a major role in providing prescription drug benefits. We now
have the best opportunity in many years to improve Medicare by
putting patients and doctors in control of health care decisions -- not
bureaucrats and trial lawyers. (Applause.)
By encouraging competition and innovation in the Medicare system,
we help improve service to seniors who depend on the program right now,
and we help ensure that the program will be solvent for the seniors of
tomorrow.
We also need legal reform, because the strength of our economy
is undermined by frivolous and self-seeking lawsuits. (Applause.)
The House has passed class action reform. We ask the Senate to do the
same, so that small businesses and manufacturers can spend more time
creating jobs, not having to fight off frivolous lawsuits.
We're going to continue pressing Congress, as well, for an
energy plan. Hopefully, we may even get one passed tonight or
tomorrow. The President has proposed a comprehensive energy
strategy that includes greater energy efficiency and conservation,
cleaner technology, and the production of more natural gas and other
fuels at home. For the sake of our economic security and our national
security, we must make America less dependent on foreign oil.
(Applause.)
We will continue, as well, to press for free trade agreements, and
we have recently completed successful negotiations with Chile
and with Singapore. These agreements will bring us the benefits
that come with an open market, more jobs for our workers, more markets
for our farmers, more growth for our trading partners and allies, and
more choices for consumers.
For the good of our citizens and our economy, we also want
to continue building an ownership society. We want Americans to own
their own homes, own their own health care, and own their own
retirement. And in coming years, we'll continue to put into place
programs that help Americans achieve all these goals -- from health
insurance tax credits that make it affordable for people to purchase
their own health insurance -- (applause); to lifetime savings accounts
that increase incentives for Americans to save in the long run; to
personal Social Security retirement accounts that allow workers to own
and build assets for their retirement security. (Applause.)
These are ambitious goals, and I am confident we can accomplish
them. I am optimistic because I know the character of this great
nation, and of this great President. Long before I took this job, I
had the good fortune to work with other Presidents I greatly admire.
As a White House staffer in the aftermath of Watergate, I saw
Gerald Ford restore confidence in government by the sheer decency
and force of his character. (Applause.) As a congressman during
the decisive years of the Cold War, I saw the conviction and the
moral courage of Ronald Reagan. (Applause.) And as a member of the
Cabinet, as Secretary of Defense, under former President Bush, I saw
the ideal of public service in its purest form and came to know a
leader of true honor and integrity. (Applause.)
Along the way, I believe I learned a few things about the
presidency, and the kind of person it takes to do that job well.
It takes the very finest qualities of character: conviction,
personal integrity, good judgment, compassion, and courage in times
of testing for the nation. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly
the kind of man we have in the White House today. (Applause.)
I am honored to work with President Bush. And he and I are
both honored by your confidence in us, by your commitment to the
enduring principles of freedom, and by the important work that ALEC
does on behalf of this great country of ours.
Thank you very much.
END 6:17 P.M. EDT
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