For Immediate Release
October 2, 2002
The Vice President makes remarks at the NRCC Gala Salute to Dick Armey and J.C. Watts
The Washington Hilton and Towers, Washington, D.C.
October 2, 2002
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much, Denny. And
thanks for the kind words. And let me thank all of you for that warm
welcome. I'm delighted to be here tonight, to see so many good friends
and former colleagues in the audience. And I appreciate very much the
chance to join all of you.
Let me, first of all, thank the fine leaders here this evening.
It's only 34 days to Election Day. But there's a group that has been
working awfully hard for a long time, and that's Tom Davis and the
staff of the NRCC. We're grateful to Tom and his team for a job well
done. (Applause.)
And I want to thank the distinguished Speaker of the House, Denny
Hastert. There is no more important friend and ally of the President's
and mine than the Speaker. In more than 30 years in this town, I've
never met anyone who better typifies all the qualities and
characteristics we expect in a leader than Denny Hastert. (Applause.)
He's steady as a rock, a man of his word, with a capacity for
greatness equal to the challenge of his office. Denny has the job I
once dreamed of. My great ambition as a congressman was to one day
rise to become Speaker of the House. As it turned out, I had to settle
for second best, as President of the Senate. (Laughter and applause.)
But I love the Senate. I really do. As it happens I've enjoyed
working in the Senate. And my job is going to get a lot better in
January when I swear in the new Republican majority. (Applause.)
Let me also thank our extraordinary House Majority Whip, Tom DeLay,
of Texas, and the two departing members of the House -- (applause) --
and the two departing members of the House leadership, Dick Armey and
J.C. Watts. (Applause.)
When I was elected to be the House Republican Whip back in 1988,
Tom was slated to become my chief deputy. He's the best vote counter I
know, and I look forward to working with him as the new Majority Leader
in the next Congress. (Applause.)
In the 1990s, after I left government, Lynne and I moved to Dallas
and were proud to live in Dick Armey's district. But years before I
was voting for him as a constituent, I was voting with him as a
colleague in the House of Representatives. All the time we served
together in the House, it was as members of the minority. Today it's a
different story and Dick Armey is among the few people we can thank for
that. This man's leadership is one of the reasons we gained the
majority in 1994 and one of the reasons we've kept it ever since.
(Applause.)
Dick has often said that when you serve in public office, the
people haven't given you power, they've given you responsibility. He's
lived by those words every day he's served in the House, and we're
grateful to him for 18 years of leadership in Washington.
We're grateful, as well, to J.C. Watts. J.C. is another good
friend. He and I have campaigned together in Oklahoma on more than one
occasion going back to 1996. From the day he arrived in this city,
J.C. has been a national figure in our party, rising quickly in the
House leadership and co-chairing the convention in Philadelphia that
nominated the Bush-Cheney ticket. He speaks with clarity. He acts
with conviction and he has kept faith with the good people who sent him
to Washington. He'll return home with the gratitude of his
constituents and the respect of us all. J.C. Watts may be retiring
from the House, but I'm betting his best years of public service are
still ahead of him. (Applause.)
The same can be said of many others who are concluding their House
careers this year. In all, we have 22 Republicans stepping down and
we'll miss them all. But that list also includes Van Hilleary, Bob
Riley and Bob Ehrlich, the next governors of Tennessee, Alabama and
Maryland. (Applause.)
And the list also includes six running for the U.S. Senate --
several of whom are here tonight -- future senators Chambliss, Ganske
and Sununu. (Applause.)
This evening I also want to thank all of you for supporting the
great work of the NRCC. I've been to many states this year on behalf
of our Republican members and candidates and a lot can happen in 34
days. But we're not going to let up for a minute. The signs are very
good out there. We have a terrific crop of candidates in every region
and the American people are ready to elect another Republican Congress
to serve alongside President George W. Bush. (Applause.)
We're all very proud of the record of achievement built up by the
House of Representatives in the 107th Congress. And there is much yet
to do to strengthen our economy, defend the homeland and overcome the
threats that have come to our nation. On the economy, our
responsibility is clear, this administration and this Congress will not
rest until every person in America who wants to work can find a job.
Americans realize that when President Bush and I were inaugurated,
the country was in an economic recession and many citizens are still
feeling the after-effects. We understand that government does not
create economic growth or new jobs, but government can create an
environment in which employers want to expand and hire more people.
Private sector jobs come about when customers have money to spend
and when entrepreneurs have money to invest and the freedom to grow.
So any policy that is pro-growth and pro-jobs must be a policy that
allows American taxpayers to keep more of the money they earn.
(Applause.)
Thanks to President Bush and our Republican members, that policy
has become the law of the land and the American people have received
the biggest tax reduction in a generation. We have cut the tax bill of
every person who pays federal income taxes. And to the great benefit
of farmers, ranchers and small business people, President Bush signed
into law a repeal of the federal death tax.
The next order of business is clear, for the health of the economy
and for the well-being of every taxpayer in America, we need to make
the Bush tax cut permanent. (Applause.)
We must also limit the size and scope of the federal government and
keep the federal government from overspending. As Republicans we never
forget that every dime government spends was earned and sent in by some
taxpayer. And especially in a period of war and recession-induced
deficits, we need to show extra care in our spending priorities and the
discipline that fits the times.
The President's top priorities are national security and homeland
defense and a reasonable increase for the rest of government. If we
allow spending to grow without restraint, we would be diverting more
money from families and entrepreneurs. And we would put a drag on the
economy. The American people deserve spending discipline in
Washington, and with President Bush and a Republican Congress, they'll
have it. (Applause.)
Today the essentials of economic growth are in place. Worker
productivity is growing. Interest rates remain low. Inflation is
under control. And the economy is poised for expansion. Going
forward, we'll see more growth and new jobs when the President's
comprehensive energy policy becomes law. Our goal is to encourage
efficient technology and conservation and increase production here at
home. Especially in times like these we must pass a comprehensive
energy bill and reduce America's dependence on foreign energy sources.
(Applause.)
We'll see more growth and new jobs when people around the world
have greater opportunities to buy the things that we produce and grow
in the United States. Under President Bush's leadership, Congress has
passed trade promotion authority, which he signed into law this
summer. The President will use that tool to open up new markets for
our country's farmers, ranchers and manufacturers.
We'll see more growth and new jobs when terrorism insurance is
passed into law. Right now many building projects are on hold because
the developers aren't able to find coverage against the risk of
terrorism. Nationwide this places millions of dollars in development
projects on hold and withholds job opportunities for some 300,000
construction workers. We can enact terrorism insurance and do so in a
way that produces good hard-hat jobs in America without giving another
windfall to the plaintiffs' trial lawyers. And we should get it done
before Congress leaves. (Applause.)
Congress has also passed the President's reforms to protect
investors, to bring more accountability to corporations and ensure
tougher oversight of the accounting profession. Our country has the
most productive, creative and promising economic system the world has
ever seen. The President's reforms will bring out the best in that
system and make it stronger and better than ever before.
We need more leaders in Washington to work with us, not against us,
to strengthen America's economy. And we need more Republican senators
to help the President place qualified, common sense judges on the
federal bench. (Applause.)
Under the Democratic leadership in the Senate, the judicial
confirmation process has become partisan, unreasonable and unfair.
Dozens of judgeships sit empty while many of the President's judicial
nominees have waited more than a year for the Senate Judiciary
Committee to even hold them a hearing.
In nominating judges, President Bush chooses men and women of
experience, judicial temperament, and good judgement, people who
respect the Constitution and understand the limits of judicial power.
We all saw what happened to Priscilla Owen, a respected Texas judge who
was voted down in committee for purely political reasons. It's time to
return fairness and goodwill to the confirmation process. And to do
that we need a new Republican majority. (Applause.)
As we look to the agenda for the fall and beyond, we are keeping
first things first. The most important responsibility we have as
public servants is to protect the American people against future attack
and to win the war that began on September 11th of 2001. This has been
a period of testing for the United States. The American people have
met that test. We are united. We understand the threats that have
formed against us. We are determined to protect our country and we
will prevail. (Applause.)
In the past year we've captured many terrorists and frozen the
assets of many terror groups and front organizations. Our people in
law enforcement and intelligence, working under the most urgent and
sometimes dangerous circumstances, have disrupted terrorist plots here
and overseas.
At home we are reorganizing the federal government to strengthen
our guard against further attacks. And of course, in Afghanistan,
where so many terrorists were housed, armed and trained, we've shut
down the camps and liberated an entire nation from the Taliban regime.
(Applause.)
In the case of Osama bin Laden, as the President said recently, if
he's alive, we'll get him. If he's not alive, we already got him.
(Laughter and applause.)
For every bit of progress that we've achieved all of us appreciate
that we're still closer to the beginning of this conflict than we are
to its end. The President and I start every day with a briefing on the
threats facing our country. There can be no doubt that our enemies are
determined to do further significant harm to the American people.
Nine-eleven and its aftermath have given us a clear picture of the true
ambitions of the global terror network, as well as the growing danger
of weapons of mass destruction. In that changing environment, as
always, we must take the facts as they are and think anew about the
requirements of national security.
In the days of the Cold War we were able to manage the threat with
strategies of deterrence and containment. But it's a lot tougher to
deter enemies who have no country to defend. And containment is not
possible when dictators obtain weapons of mass destruction and are
prepared to share them with terrorists.
For this new century it's very clear what our national security
strategy must be. We must maintain a military second to none, and when
necessary we must preempt grave threats to America before they
materialize. (Applause.)
We've already found confirmation that the Al Qaeda terrorists are
pursuing weapons of mass destruction. At the same time there's a
danger of terror groups joining together with the regimes that have or
are seeking to build such weapons. In Iraq, we know that Saddam
Hussein is pressing forward with these capabilities. He has used
weapons of mass destruction both in his war against Iran and against
his own people.
The government of the United States will not look the other way as
threats gather against the American people. We will continue working
closely with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to build a
strong bipartisan resolution. And, of course, just this afternoon the
President was able to announce -- with a bipartisan leadership -- that
we had, in fact, reached agreement on a resolution that will be
introduced in both Houses, sponsored by a cross-section of members of
both parties in Congress. We're confident that when Congress passes
that, friends and enemies alike will understand the unity and the
determination of our country.
We're also consulting with the leaders of many nations. In his
speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Bush made
clear to the international community the kinds of challenges we must
face together. He reminded the U.N. that Saddam Hussein made a series
of commitments after his defeat in Desert Storm and that he has broken
every single one of them.
Saddam agreed to cease at once the repression of his people, yet
the systematic violation of human rights continues in Iraq to this
day. He agreed to return all prisoners from Kuwait and other lands,
yet more than 600 are still unaccounted for, including one American
pilot. Saddam Hussein agreed to renounce all involvement with
terrorism and to permit no terrorist organizations to operate in Iraq,
yet Iraq continues to shelter and support terrorist organizations.
Dissidents abroad are targeted for murder. The Iraqi regime has
attempted to assassinate the Emir of Kuwait and a former President of
the United States.
Saddam Hussein promised the United Nations that he would destroy
and cease further development of weapons of mass destruction and
long-range missiles, and that he would submit to unrestricted
inspections. He has flatly broken these pledges, producing chemical
and biological weapons and aggressively pursuing a nuclear weapons
program while also working to develop long-range missiles.
Empty words from the Iraqi regime will not cause us to ignore
history or reality. Saddam Hussein has spent more than a decade in
complete defiance of all the demands of the United Nations. The
question for the international community is whether Security Counsel
resolutions will be enforced or disregarded without consequence --
whether the United Nations will be effective or irrelevant.
As for the United States, the President has made our position very
clear: we will work with the United Nations to meet our common
challenge; the Security Council resolutions are to be enforced or
action will be unavoidable. We must and we will defend our freedom and
our security. (Applause.)
This past year has brought many critical missions to our armed
forces. The nation depends on them and every American is proud of
them. In times to come we will be asking more from our military and
those who serve have the right to expect things from us. If we're
going to ask young men and women to defend our country, our allies and
our freedom, if we're going to send them in harm's way on dangerous
missions to fight determined enemies, they deserve the very best tools,
the best training and the best support we can possibly give them. And
to meet that commitment, President Bush has asked for the most
significant increase in defense spending since Ronald Reagan lived in
the White House. (Applause.)
The conduct of our military does more than bring credit to the
country, it reflects the basic fundamental character of the American
people. This is a good, a decent and a generous country. We fight not
for revenge against our enemies, but for the freedom and security of
our own people and for the peace of the world.
I think the words of one of my predecessors, the Secretary of
Defense George C. Marshall, are appropriate. Shortly after our nation
was attacked at Pearl Harbor in 1941, General Marshall spoke to the
cadets at West Point. "Before the sun sets on this terrible struggle,"
he said, "our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol
of freedom on one hand and of overwhelming power on the other."
(Applause.)
America is again called by history to use our overwhelming power in
defense of our freedom. We've accepted that duty, certain of the
justice of our cause, and confident of the victory to come. For my
part, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with a president who is
making us all proud, upholding the cause of freedom and serving the
greatest nation on earth. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 7:00 P.M. EDT
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