For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 21, 2002
Remarks by the President at Republican Party of Florida Majority Dinner
Universal Studios Portofino Hotel
Orlando, Florida
6:44 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Gosh, thanks for that warm welcome. It's an honor
to be back here in the great state of Florida. I want to -- I
appreciate all of you who have come tonight. I'm here to help support
the Republican Party of this state and make sure your unbelievably
great Governor gets reelected. (Applause.)
It was a real treat for me to be able to see mi cunada, my
sister-in-law, Columba. Jeb and I both married above ourselves.
(Laughter.) I know you're proud of the job that Columba's doing as the
First Lady of Florida. (Applause.) And I'm really proud of the job
Laura's doing as the First Lady of America. (Applause.)
I'm pleased to report that our Mother is still telling both of us
what to do. (Laughter.) And we're both listening -- most of the
time. But it's great to be here with my family. As you know, we love
our -- we've got a great family; we love each other a lot. And
anything I can do to help Jeb stay in the Governor's Office I'll do.
(Applause.) Even if that means keeping Brogan as the Lt. Governor.
(Laughter and applause.) I appreciate you, Frank. Frank Brogan is a
very good man, and you're doing a great job, Frank. I appreciate you.
(Applause.)
I want to thank an Orlando product, who traveled with me today, for
his service to the country. Mel Martinez is doing a great job in my
Cabinet. (Applause.) I want to thank former Senator Connie Mack for
staying involved with the Republican Party and for helping a lot.
(Applause.) I appreciate so very much Congressman Ric Keller, who's
doing a fine job in the United States Congress. Ric, thank you very
much. (Applause.) Mike Bilirakis is here, and Mike is a great
Congressman from up the coast. I appreciate you being here, Mike.
(Applause.)
They tell me Congressmen Miller and Foley and Weldon may be here.
If you're not here, I can understand -- I'm going to give a long
speech. (Laughter.) If you are here, thank you for your service to
the state of Florida and to the country. (Applause.)
And finally, they've been a little lax on the immigration laws here
in Florida; you let a man from Georgia come in. He's a great
Congressman from south Georgia, Charlie Norwood. Congressman Norwood.
(Applause.)
I appreciate members of the elected -- who have been elected
statewide here in Florida -- Charlie Bronson, Charlie Crist, and Tom
Gallagher. I'm honored you all are here. (Applause.) I want to thank
the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Al Cardenas, for his
hard work and noble efforts for this party. (Applause.) And I want to
thank Al Hoffman and Al Austin for their loyal friendship and longtime
support for both Jeb and me. I want to thank you for your hard work.
(Applause.) I want to thank the Mayor of this fine city, and the Mayor
of Sarasota, as well, for coming -- both Carolyn Mason and Glenda
Hood. Thank you all for being here. (Applause.)
I appreciate so very much members of the Florida legislature,
starting with the Speaker, Tom Feeney, and Senate Leader John McKay.
Thank you both for being here, and all of you for coming. (Applause.)
But most of all, I want to thank you all for supporting a great
cause and a great slate of candidates. I want to thank those of you
who have contributed your money, and I want to thank those of you who
contribute your time.
We understand -- at least Jeb and I understand how important it is
to have a viable, vibrant grass-roots organization. And for those of
you who spent hours dialing phones and putting up signs and passing out
pamphlets, thanks for your hard work. Get a little rest over the next
couple of weeks -- (laughter) -- and get ready. We need you this
fall. (Applause.)
My attitude is when you find a man who brings integrity to office,
you've got to send him back into that office. (Applause.) And that's
Jeb Bush. He's a man with strong principles. He fights for what he
believes in. He sets high standards. The thing I'm most proud about
Jeb, he is the Governor of everybody in the state of Florida.
(Applause.) He doesn't think about keeping people out, or doesn't
think about special people in. When Jeb thinks and acts, he thinks
about how best to improve the lives of everybody.
And I want the citizens of Florida to stay focused on his education
agenda and his education vision. Jeb Bush understands and believes
that every child in the state of Florida. He knows that if you set low
standards, certain children aren't going to learn. He believes that
he's got to set high standards to make sure that every child in this
great state learns how to read and write and add and subtract.
(Applause.)
He's a man of enormous principle who believes in holding people
accountable. He understands that in order to make sure every child
learns, you must measure. You see, there used to be a system in
Florida that said -- it must have said certain kids can't learn, so the
easy way out is just to move them through. And guess who got moved
through -- inner-city African American kids. Let's just quit on them
and move them through and hope nobody notices.
How about children whose parents don't speak English as a first
language -- they're easy to quit on. But under the leadership of
Governor Jeb Bush, because he set high standards and holds people
accountable for results, his program and his vision will do more to
make sure that every child -- I mean, every single child in this great
state is going to get a good education. And no child will be left
behind. I'm proud of you, brother. (Applause.)
It hasn't been easy times for governors around the country when it
comes to managing the budget. But, fortunately, ou've got a governor
who didn't run up the baselines of your budget when it seemed like time
for plenty. You've got a fiscally sound governor. Somebody who
understands that the people's money is their money, not the
government's money. Somebody who's done a fabulous job on behalf of
the taxpayers of the people of Florida. (Applause.)
I've enjoyed very much working with Jeb on a lot of key issues, and
I know for the state of Florida there is no more key issue than making
sure that the coastline of Florida didn't have a lot of oil and gas
drilling. As a matter of fact, under our vision, it's not going to
have any. And so we worked together on Destin Dome -- (applause.) We
worked together on Destin Dome and the Collier property in the
Everglades. And thanks to the leadership of this governor, thanks to
the leadership of Jeb Bush he has been a strong environmental steward
for the people of the state of Florida.
This guy is doing a great job for the people. And I'm confident
with your help, you're going to send him back up to Tallahassee.
(Applause.)
We've got work to do in Florida and we've got work to do in
Washington. And I want to share some thoughts about how I
think things are going. First, I know there's a lot of talk about
statistics in Washington, D.C. They're always quoting this person's
statistic, or this smart person's statistic. Here's my attitude: If
somebody wants to work and can't find a job, we've got a problem. If
somebody's looking for work and can't find that job, all of us involved
in public policy must do everything we can to expand the job base. The
role of government is not to create wealth; the role of government is
to create an environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in
which the small business owner has a chance to realize his or her
dreams.
And that's why I insisted last year that the United States Congress
join me in cutting the taxes on the working people all around America.
(Applause.)
I readily concede some people in Washington read a different
economic textbook than I have. They believe that when the economy
slows down, you've got to keep more of the money in Washington. I
believe that if you let people have their own money, they'll spend it.
And they'll demand a good and service, and when they demand a good or a
service, somebody's going to produce that good and service. And when
somebody produces that good and service, somebody's more likely to have
a job.
It is essential in Washington, and in Tallahassee, that you have
leaders understand the entrepreneurial potential of our
country, and of the state of Florida. So whether it be on tax
policy, or terrorism insurance -- and by the way, I want to thank the
Senate and the House for passing me a terror insurance bill, so that we
can make sure large-scale construction projects can go forward in the
state of Florida. But they've got to make sure they send me a bill
that doesn't enrich plaintiffs' attorneys, but instead encourages
workers to be able to find work. (Applause.)
And you're going to see, there's going to be some budget struggles
in Washington, D.C. The temptation is to spend, and I understand
that. But they've given the President the veto for a reason. And one
of the reasons is to make sure that there is fiscal discipline in
Washington, D.C. And I intend to use the veto to make sure we do not
overspend in our nation's capital. (Applause.)
We're making progress on the economic security front. But I'm
telling you, we've got a lot more to do, and we will. We will. And
we're making progress on the defense of our homeland as well. As you
probably have heard, I have asked Congress to help me in streamlining
and making more effective the ability of all of us involved with
homeland security to do our jobs. I readily concede that some are
probably asking the question, why would he try to create more
government? After all, I didn't run and say, vote for me, I promise to
create bigger government.
The reason why I have asked Congress to join me is because I want
to take the over 100 agencies involved with homeland defense and bring
them under one agency, so that they can be more effective, so that we
can be more accountable and doing the most important job we have to do, which is to keep
the enemy from hurting innocent Americans.
I say "keep the enemy from hurting innocent Americans" because
that's exactly what they want to do. We're dealing with cold-blooded
killers, and that's all they are. These are people who hijack a great
religion and kill in the name of that religion. These are people who
send youngsters to their death, and they hide in caves. And so I just
want you to know that my main focus,
and the main focus of a lot of hard-working people, is to do
everything we can to protect America. We're chasing down every single
lead. (Applause.)
We're chasing down every single lead. If there is a hint that
somebody might try to do something to America, we're on them. We are.
I know there's been a lot of consternation in Washington -- and
probably in your newspapers here -- about the FBI and the CIA. There's
no question that the FBI needed to change its attitude after September
the 11th. After all, prior to September the 11th, the main function of
the FBI was to run criminals down here in America and arrest them and
bring them to justice -- and that's still an important function. But
now that we've realized that we've got a war on our hands, an enemy
that wants to hurt us, the FBI's primary mission is now to prevent an attack.
And they're talking better than ever. With intelligence-gathering
networks, we're getting pretty good at it, and we're communicating
better. My point to you is that the defense of the homeland, although
never perfect, is improving every single day thanks to a lot of
hard-working Americans.
But the best way to secure the homeland, the best way to make sure
that I do my job, is to hunt the killers down one by one and bring them
to justice. And that is precisely what America is going to do.
(Applause.)
I've submitted a significant increase in the defense spending of
the United States. It's the largest increase since Ronald Reagan was
the President of our country. (Applause.) I did so for two main
reasons. One, any time any one of our troops goes into the battle or
into harm's way, that person deserves the absolute best equipment, the
best pay, the best training possible. (Applause.) And the second
reason is it sends a clear signal to our country, the coalition we have
put together, and the enemy, that the United States, when it comes to
defending our freedom, will take however long it takes; that this is a
long struggle -- this is going to be a struggle of -- it's going to
last a long time.
And we're making progress, we really are. Some of it's very
evident; we routed out this barbaric regime called the Taliban. We
sent our incredibly brave troops into Afghanistan, and in pretty short
order we liberated a country. We freed people from the clutches of
people who wouldn't even let girls go to school, and now they do,
thanks to the United States of America. (Applause.)
But a lot of what's happening you won't see. That's the nature of
the new war. We're kind of chasing down shadowy networks, people that
try to blend into big, crowded cities, or they hide in, as I said,
caves. But you just need to know we're after them. We've got them on
the run. And we're going to keep them on the run. And we're going to
continue making sure we send a clear message: either you're with us or
you're with the enemy.
We spend a lot of time talking to our friends and allies, and
bolstering our coalition. Today, one of our coalition members,
President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines, did the world a great
service. There was a group of killers named Abu Sayyaf in her
country. They kidnapped, they killed. And today, their leader met his
Maker thanks to one of our coalition partners. (Applause.)
We've hauled in, one way or the other, 2.400 -- make it 2,401 --
people that have been a part of this shadowy army. But there's more to
do. There's more to do. And you can bet the United States of America,
so long as I'm the President, is going to do what needs to be done. (Applause.) Because after all, we
defend our freedom.
And the decisions we make today, and our steadfast resolve, will
help our children to live in a free world. And there's some tough,
tough tasks ahead, no question about it. There will be some tough
battles. There's a threat that faces our country, which I take very
seriously, and that is the capacity of some of the world's worst
regimes to develop and harbor weapons of mass destruction.
I'm a patient man. The United States has got a lot of tools at our
disposal. And we'll use every tool at our disposal to make sure that
the axis of evil doesn't hold us hostage, doesn't hold our friends
hostage, and does not hurt the freedoms that we love so dearly.
(Applause.)
I believe that out of the evil done to America will come some
good. I believe that this country is so strong, and so powerful, and
so good and decent, that out of the evil done on September the 11th can
come some important, lasting contributions to the world, starting with
peace.
You know, Laura always -- not always; sometimes -- gets on me for
my rhetoric. (Laughter.) And if your children question,
you know, why is the President talking this way or the other way?
I ask you to look them in the eye and say, because he loves peace.
Because he believes that the United States has been called into
action. That history has given us a chance to seize the moment to use
our position in the world to make the world more peaceful. Peaceful in
America; peaceful in parts of the world where people cannot possibly
dream of peace right now: peace in South Asia, peace in the Middle
East. So long as I'm the President, I will drive public policy and
foreign policy to achieving peace. (Applause.)
And at home, and at home, I believe that out of the evil is coming
incredible good. People say, what can I do to help?
You can love your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
If you want to fight evil, do some good. You see, it's the million
acts of kindness and decency that take place every day in America that
will help us fight off evil.
As a result of people loving their neighbor, mentoring a child,
helping a shut-in, our culture's changing in America. I gave
a speech at Ohio State University a week ago today, and I was
pleased to see that 70 percent of all the graduating class had at
one time or another done some volunteer work. It's a great sign to
realize that our young have heard the call, that life is more than just
profit and loss; that life of service is an important part of being not
a spectator, but a citizen of the United States of America.
The most compelling story, of course, in my judgment after 9/11 or
during 9/11 was Flight 93, when brave souls heard that their airplane
was a weapon. They called their loved ones, they said a prayer, and
they took the airplane in the ground in the ultimate gesture of serving
something greater than yourself. I believe that lesson has
reverberated throughout our society. I believe millions of our fellow
citizens now realize that in order to be a full-fledged American, it
means you've got to help somebody in need.
There are pockets of despair and hopelessness in America that can
be solved by love and compassion, by works of faith. And I believe
that out of the evil, more and more Americans, as a result of our
fellow Americans showing compassion and
decency, will realize the American Dream extends to every
neighborhood in this great land. (Applause.)
I believe that Americans understand that the culture of if it feels
good do it, and you got a problem, blame somebody else, is a culture
that must fade off into the sunset. It's being replaced by a culture
of personal responsibility. Each of us are responsible for loving our
children. If you happen to be a mom or a dad, your most important job
is to love your children with all your heart and all your soul.
In order to be a good neighbor, you must love your neighbor. If
you're running a business, a public company in America,
you have the responsibility to have clean balance sheets, to be --
fully disclose your assets and your liabilities, and treat your
shareholders and employees with the respect they deserve. (Applause.)
No, out of the evil done to America has come a new culture, a new
sense of responsibility. The enemy thought they
were hurting America, and they killed too many lives, no question
about it. But they didn't realize who they were dealing with.
They were dealing with the greatest nation, the most decent nation,
the most compassionate nation on the face of this Earth.
And it is my high honor to be the President of such a great place.
Thank you for coming. (Applause.) God bless you all. (Applause.)
END 7:10 P.M. EDT
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