For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 1, 2003
Remarks by the President at Desoto County, Mississippi Welcome
Desoto Civic Center
Southaven, Mississippi
10:08 A.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
I'm honored to be here. I'm honored to be here with the next governor
of the state of Mississippi, Haley Barbour. (Applause.) It is great
to be in northern Mississippi. I'm proud to be here with a lot of
friends.
You know, I woke up in Crawford this morning. I said to First Lady
Bush, I said, I don't know if I'm going to be able to find the energy
to be able to make it through a long day. You know, I'm kind of
getting up in years and -- (laughter) -- and here I come to northern
Mississippi, where thousands of our fellow citizens are here. You've
energized me. I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
I appreciate you coming. I appreciate you coming. Haley and I
married above ourselves. I'm thrilled that the next First Lady of
Mississippi is with us today, and that's Marsha. (Applause.) And
Laura sends her love. I'm sorry she's not with me. She's been a
fabulous First Lady for our country. (Applause.)
I've known Haley for quite a while. He used to run in high
circles. I guess in this part of the world, you say he used to pick
high cotton. (Laughter.) But one thing about him, no matter how high
the circle he ran in, he always loved to talk about Mississippi.
(Applause.) He's proud of this state. And that's the kind of governor
you need, somebody who can relate to people from all walks of life.
One of the things about his campaign that I like a lot is, Haley is
proud to be a Republican, but he also wants to be the governor of
Democrats and independents. He's reaching out. (Applause.) He
understands his job is to represent everybody when he gets to be the
governor in three days. (Applause.)
I like the fact that he's an optimist. He's got a positive view
for the great state of Mississippi. He believes in the great potential
of the great state of Mississippi. That's the kind of governor you
want, somebody who sees a positive future for every single citizen --
that governor is Haley Barbour. (Applause.)
I like the fact that Haley Barbour is a man of good values. He
honors his family. He treasures his relationship with the Almighty.
(Applause.) He believes in hard work. He believes everybody has
worth. It's these kind of values that are necessary to have in your
statehouse here in Mississippi. I'm proud to stand with this man;
Haley Barbour is the right man to lead the state of Mississippi.
(Applause.)
And in order to have this good man lead the state of Mississippi,
he needs your help. We're coming down to voting time here in
Mississippi. It's time to make sure that people get the message that
you've got a good man in Haley Barbour. That means you need to go out
and find your neighbors, Republicans, Democrats, independents, people
who don't care about political parties at all, to get to the polls.
Remind them they have a duty as a citizen of this free country to
vote. (Applause.) And once you get them headed to the polls, make
sure they do what's in the best interests of the state of Mississippi,
and vote for Haley Barbour. (Applause.)
I'm so thankful that we've got a great United States senator with
us today, a man who is a leader on the floor of the United States
Senate, a strong ally of mine, a great friend of the people of
Mississippi -- and that's Senator Thad Cochran. (Applause.) As well,
another fine representative for the state of Mississippi in Washington,
D.C., a man who's done a great job in the United States Congress,
friend and ally -- and that would be Congressman Roger Wicker.
(Applause.)
I had the honor of welcoming some Mississippi citizens to
Washington a while ago, and one of the citizens that came was a
courageous politician, a leader who -- who didn't do the politically
expedient thing, but decided that she would find a home in a different
political party; somebody who stood by her convictions; somebody who
said, principle matters a lot to me. And that's the next lieutenant
governor of the state of Mississippi, Amy Tuck. (Applause.)
I know we've got a lot of other statewide candidates here. When
you get in that booth for Haley and Amy, make sure you remember Phil
Bryant, Julio del Castillo, Scott Newton, Max Phillips, Tate Reeves,
all fine candidates running for statewide office. (Applause.)
Not only should people vote for Haley because he's so pretty to
look at -- (laughter) -- well -- (laughter.) He's got the right
issues. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to the issues.
(Applause.) He knows when people in Mississippi are looking for work
you better have a pro-growth policy for the state of Mississippi.
(Applause.)
We share the same philosophy. First of all, we're concerned about
people looking for work; and secondly, we know that in order to get an
economy growing you've got to do two things -- you must have fiscal
discipline in the statehouses around the country. Haley Barbour knows
how to manage a budget. Haley Barbour will be wise with the taxpayers'
money in the state of Mississippi. (Applause.)
I know where Haley stands because when I stood up in front of the
Congress and the country and advocated a pro-growth policy for our
economy, he was strong by my side. I said this: I said, if people
have more money in their pockets, they're more likely to demand a good
or a service. And when somebody demands a good or a service in our
economy, somebody will produce a good or a service. And when somebody
produces the good or a service, it means somebody is more likely to
find a job. The tax cuts we passed came at the right time.
(Applause.)
Haley Barbour also understands that in order for your economy to
grow, you better make sure you've got a legal system that is fair. A
legal system that isn't dominated by the plaintiff's bar. A legal
system that doesn't have so many frivolous lawsuits that it makes it
hard for people to find a job. You better have you a governor who's
willing to stand up to the trial attorneys and have medical liability
reform, so that people can get good health care in the state of
Mississippi. (Applause.)
I appreciate the fact that Haley Barbour has set as a priority the
education of every child in the state of Mississippi. (Applause.) I
used to like to say when I was in Texas, education is to a state what
national defense is to the federal government -- the number one
priority. Haley Barbour understands that every child must be educated
in the state of Mississippi. He stands strong with the teachers of
Mississippi. He stands on the side of the parents of Mississippi. He
wants to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations by raising the
bar for every single child. (Applause.)
Finally, I appreciate the fact that Haley Barbour not only has
supported me on this issue I'm about to talk about, but is willing to
do -- have his own version of a faith-based initiative here in the
state of Mississippi. He understands what I know, that some of the
problems in our society are problems of the heart; that while
government can hand out money, government cannot put hope in a person's
heart, or a sense of personal -- (applause.) No, the great strength --
the great strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our
fellow citizens. And you need a governor who is willing to rally the
armies of compassion.
We should never have the state fund the church, or the church try
to be the state. But what we should have is states and the federal
government willing to empower those who have heard the universal call
to love a neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourselves. We need
mentors for our children. We need people to help the homeless. We
need to help the addicted. and faith-based programs work. (Applause.)
It's also been helpful to have a friend like Haley who supported me
and others in Washington, D.C. to make sure that Mississippi judges get
a fair hearing. I've named some good people to serve on the federal
bench, people who will use the bench to interpret the law and not try
to write law. (Applause.) I want to thank Senator Cochran and Senator
Lott and, of course, Haley, for standing strong with a nominee I named
from Mississippi, Charles Pickering. (Applause.) I stand strong with
Judge Pickering, and it's time for some members of the United States
Senate to stop playing politics with American justice. (Applause.)
I look forward to working with Haley to make sure that the state of
Mississippi has got what's needed to protect the homeland. You've got
valuable ports that need to -- we need to work on to make sure that
nobody comes and harms any of our fellow citizens. I look forward to
working with him to make sure that the resources we're spending out of
Washington for those on the front line of homeland security are
well-coordinated and well-spent. I look forward to making sure our
police forces and firefighters and emergency response teams are
well-coordinated between the federal government and the state
government and the local governments. Haley would be a good leader
when it comes to working on homeland security matters. (Applause.)
But I want to remind you that the best way to protect the homeland
is to hunt down the enemy, one by one, and bring them to justice.
(Applause.) The terrorists declared war on the United States of America
-- and war is what they got. (Applause.) This country will not rest,
we will not tire, we will do what it takes to remove this danger from
civilization and make America secure. (Applause.)
For those of you who have got relatives in the United States
military, I want to thank you. And you make sure you send word to them
that their Commander-in-Chief is incredibly proud of the sacrifices
they're making on behalf of our nation. (Applause.)
And I also want you to know that I understand that the best way to
secure America is to advance human liberty. Free nations -- free
nations do not attack their neighbors; free nations do not develop
weapons of mass terror. The United States of America strongly believes
that freedom is the right of every single person, that freedom is not
America's gift to the world, that freedom is the Almighty's gift to
every person who lives in this world. (Applause.) With the advance of
human freedom, the world will be more peaceful, and America will be
more secure. (Applause.)
We've overcome a lot of challenges in the last two-and-a-half
years, and there will be other challenges. And in my judgment, the
best way for Mississippi to deal with the challenges you face is to
make sure you put a governor in place who's optimistic and hopeful;
somebody who can unite this state to get people pulling in the same
direction; somebody who firmly believes in his heart of hearts that
Mississippi "can do better." (Applause.) And that person, and that
leader is the next governor of the state of Mississippi -- Haley
Barbour. (Applause.)
END 10:26 A.M. CST
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