For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 4, 2002
Remarks by the President at Massachusetts Victory 2002 Reception
The Seaport Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts
12:48 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you all. Glad I
came. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We are, too.
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Governor, thanks for those
kind, kind remarks. I'm proud to be -- (applause). I strongly stand
with Mitt Romney because I believe he is the best person for the job of
Governor of Massachusetts. (Applause.)
I say that I know that because I know his values. He's got his
priorities straight: his faith, his family, and his state. And he's
not going to waver from those priorities; they're etched in his heart.
(Applause.)
He's got a record. He's done things in life. He started his own
businesses, he's an entrepreneur. He knows how to create jobs at a
time when you need somebody in Massachusetts who knows job creation.
(Applause.)
He knows how to take a struggling organization and turn it around.
(Applause.) He's done that recently. He's not one of these talkers
that you find in the political arena; he's a doer. (Applause.) Just
ask the folks -- just ask the folks who were wondering whether or not
the Olympics were going to go bankrupt. Ask them what happened when
Mitt Romney showed up and brought some managerial skills and some
vision, and the ability to set priorities and the know-how how to set
budgets, and turned that organization around and made sure the Olympics
in Salt Lake City were not only successful, but profitable. It's the
same kind of attitude you need here in your state budget in
Massachusetts. (Applause.)
No, you've got the right man for the job here. You've got the
right person for the job. And I want to thank you for backing him.
And I'm real proud of his wife, Ann. (Applause.) She'll be a
great First Lady for Massachusetts. She's a dedicated mom, she's
looking forward to working hard with Mitt to do everything they can to
help everybody in the state of Massachusetts, to help people get ahead
in this state.
Mitt and I -- Mitt and I married above ourselves. (Laughter and
applause.) In my case, by a long shot. (Laughter.) Yes, I know.
Laura sends her best to the Romneys, sends her love to our friends
here. She is I can't tell you how proud I am of her. (Applause.) You
know, when I married her, she was a public school librarian in Texas.
The truth of the matter is, she didn't like politics. (Laughter.) Nor
did she like politicians. (Laughter.) Now she's stuck with me.
(Laughter.)
But the American people have gotten to see why I asked her to marry
me. She is steady, she's calm, she's in my judgment, and I must
confess it's not very objective she's a class act. (Applause.) A
lot of her buddies in Texas are wondering why she said yes to my
proposal. (Laughter.) But she sends her best.
I'm also honored to be here with the next lieutenant governor,
Kerry Healey. (Applause.) I'm impressed by Kerry's know-how, her
knowledge. She's a smart, smart lady, and she's going to make a great
lieutenant governor. (Applause.)
You all have got a great team here, a great team to represent you.
And so I want to thank you for coming. I want to thank those of you
who are involved with grassroots politics here in Massachusetts for
what you have done and, more importantly, what you're going to do.
See, you can't win a race unless you've got citizens willing to go to
the coffee shops and the community centers, the churches and synagogues
and mosques, and talk up good people when you find them. You've got
two good ones here. And you owe it to them, in my judgment, for the
sake of the future of your state, to do everything you can between now
and Election Day to turn out the vote. The votes are there; they need
your help in turning them out. (Applause.)
I appreciate the agenda of the next governor and lieutenant
governor. It starts with jobs. You've got to have you somebody in the
Governor's office who can recruit, who knows the language of the
entrepreneur, who understands how small businesses are created and
function, in order to make sure that not only is the landscape here
good for attracting jobs -- but he can recruit jobs.
See, you need somebody who knows what they're talking about when it
comes to making sure the people of this important state can find work.
And there's no question in my mind Mitt Romney knows what he's talking
about. He knows -- he knows capital. He knows entrepreneurship. He
understands small business creation.
The role of government is not to create wealth -- that's what other
people might think. The role of government is to create an environment
in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in which the small business can
grow to be big businesses. (Applause.)
That's why he also is focusing on infrastructure, to make sure your
transportation system is efficient, cost-effective -- works well.
(Laughter.) It's an important part of making sure the environment for
attracting jobs is competitive, and Mitt understands that.
But what I like best about him is they understand, Mitt and Kerry
understand the number one priority of any state is the education of the
children of the state. (Applause.) See, I used to say I used to
put it this way: Education is to a state what national defense is to
the federal government. It's the most important priority. And this
team has got education as a priority.
We share a philosophy. It's a philosophy incorporated in the No
Child Left Behind bill that I had the honor of signing. It starts with
the belief that every child can learn, a belief that there ought to be
high standards and high expectations in our society. (Applause.)
You've got to have a governor who is willing to challenge the soft
bigotry of low expectations. (Applause.)
If you lower the bar, see, if you believe certain children can't
learn inner city kids, kids whose parents may not speak English as a
first language if you believe that, the systems will reflect that.
They'll just shuffle the kids through. That's unacceptable anywhere in
the United States of America.
Part of what this next team, the governor and lieutenant governor
believe is you've got to decentralize power, you've got to trust local
people to manage the path to excellence. If you have high standards
and local control of schools, you're more likely to achieve educational
excellence. But finally, the cornerstone of the new bill and a
cornerstone of any good education policy is this: If you take money,
taxpayers' money, you need to show society whether or not the children
are learning to read and write and add and subtract. (Applause.)
You see, if you believe every child can learn, if you believe every
child can learn, then you want to know if every child is learning, and
therefore you measure. If you have no accountability, then how do you
know? If you have no accountability, you're more likely just to
shuffle the kids through and, at the end of the process, you say, oops,
they forgot to learn to read, and that's unacceptable.
You need to have a governor and a lieutenant governor who are
willing to hold people accountable, and are willing to praise success,
but willing to blow the whistle on failure when you find kids trapped
in schools which will not teach and will not change. (Applause.)
Now, they've got a good, positive agenda. They've got a good,
positive agenda. When they get in there, they're going to represent
everybody, not just those who voted for them, not just the
fifty-percent-plus that voted for them. (Laughter.) They're going to
represent all the people. They believe in uniting people, not dividing
people.
They believe in rejecting old-style politics. This team is going
to be a breath of fresh air for the citizens of Massachusetts.
(Applause.)
I'm confident -- I'm confident they'll make this state a safer,
stronger, and better place. And that's what I want to do for our
country. (Applause.) A stronger country is one in which our citizens
can find work. That's a stronger country. A country in which the job
base is expanding. A country in which somebody who wants to put food
on the table is able to do so. Too many of our citizens can't find
work -- although we got some good news today, an indication that the
economy has got the foundation for growth. The unemployment rate
dropped, which was good news. (Applause.)
But that's not good enough. It's not good enough; there are still
too many people who wonder whether or not they're going to be able to
find employment. My job is to continue to insist upon growth, urge
Congress to pass the necessary legislation to create the environment
for growth.
And we've got a good chance to do that before they go home to
campaign, and that is to pass a terrorism insurance bill. Here's the
problem we face in America: over $15 billion worth of construction
projects have been put on hold or cancelled because of the lack of
terrorism insurance. See, after the enemy hit us on September the
11th, it distorted market. You can't find insurance, you can't go
forward with a project.
And therefore, I think it's a useful tool of the federal government
to provide -- to mitigate some of that risk. Congress has been talking
about this, now, for a long time. The House of Representatives passed
a bill, the Senate passed a bill; they're still talking about it.
I'm convinced when they pass a good terrorism insurance bill that
rewards hard-hats and not trial lawyers, 300,000 additional Americans
will find work. (Applause.)
They get a bill to my desk -- they get a bill to my desk before
they go home, it would help this economy. There's a lot of plumbers
and bricklayers, ironworkers -- good solid Americans -- who are going
to more likely find work, 300,000 of them, if they can get these
projects back. If Congress is worried about the economy like I am,
they need to join us.
They also need to make sure the tax cuts are permanent. Let me
tell you my thoughts about tax relief. (Applause.) When your economy
is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of
their own money. (Applause.) Here's the page out of the textbook that
I believe is important. I know Romney feels the same way. If you let
somebody keep more of their own money, they're likely to demand a good
or a service. And when they demand a good or a service in this system,
somebody is likely to produce that good or a service. And when
somebody produces that good or a service, somebody is more likely to be
able to find work.
For the sake of job creation, for the sake of helping people put
food on the table, the tax relief plan we passed came at the exact
right time. (Applause.)
And in that tax relief plan, we cut rates, which is good for small
business creation. Most small businesses are sole proprietorships or
limited partnerships. They pay their taxes at the income tax rate, the
personal income tax level. And so when you cut taxes, really what
you're doing is you're stimulating small business growth.
Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small
businesses. The tax cut was good for the small business owners.
(Applause.)
We slashed the marriage penalty. We want the tax code to encourage
marriage and families, not discourage marriage. (Applause.)
We did something really important for the entrepreneurs and new
startups and farmers and ranchers. We put the death tax on its way to
extinction. (Applause.) The death tax is bad. It's a bad tax. It's
an unfair tax.
But the reason I'm still having to talk about this issue is because
of a quirk in the law, how the rules in the Senate -- that tax cut
really doesn't go, it doesn't stay permanent. It's like the Senate
giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. (Laughter.) See,
in ten years' time, we revert back to where we were when the tax relief
plan was passed. I know it doesn't make any sense, but that's just the
way they operate over there. (Laughter.)
For the sake of job creation, for the sake of encouraging the
entrepreneur to be able to plan, for the sake of making sure that our
economy is strong and the foundation of growth is solid, the United
States Congress needs to make the tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)
And they've got to do one other thing before they go out of town.
They've got to remember whose money they're spending. (Applause.)
Yes, it's not the government's money. It's the people's money.
(Applause.) And I'm sad to report -- I'm sad to report that the United
States Senate could not pass a budget. That's a pretty scary thought;
see, if you don't have a budget, if you don't have constraints in
Washington, you're liable to get a little overspending. Because, see,
every idea sounds like a great idea there. (Laughter.) Every idea is
just fantastic. (Laughter.) The problem is they all come with
billions of dollars worth of price tags.
If we overspend, it'll serve as a drag on economic growth and
vitality. I submitted a budget that leads us toward getting back into
balance. It sets priorities. For the sake of economic growth and
jobs, the United States Congress must be fiscally responsible, must not
overspend, must spend only on priorities and not that which they think
will get them easily reelected. For the sake of job creation, we need
fiscal sanity in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
I am optimistic about our economy, but we've got more work to do.
And I want you to know that I will spend a lot of time working to
strengthen this economy in any way I can.
Having said that, my number one priority is to make America a safer
place, because I understand there's still an enemy out there which
hates America. And I want to tell you why they hate us, at least my
opinion about why they hate us. They hate us for what we love. They
hate us because we love freedom. (Applause.)
They hate us because we love the idea that people can worship an
Almighty God any way he or she sees fit. (Applause.) They hate us
because we love political discourse and a free society. They hate us
because of our free press. They hate everything about us, because of
our freedom.
And there's another there are a lot of distinguishing features,
but one of the most clear ones to me is this. We value life in
America. We say everybody is precious, everybody counts, every life
has worth, every life has dignity. They don't value life. They're
willing to hijack a great religion and take innocent life in the name
of that religion. (Applause.)
And they're still out there. And so long as they're out there, the
number one job of your government is to protect innocent life, is to
protect the enemy from hitting us again. You need to know there are a
lot of good people working long hours to do everything in their power
to disrupt, to find, to hunt down, to -- anything we can do, within the
United States Constitution, to protect the American people.
We're doing a better job of talking to each other. We're doing a
better job of sharing information. We are on alert; we understand
they're out there. There's a lot of fine folks at the federal level, a
lot of great police officers at the state and local level, a lot of
people in the sheriff's department, a lot of emergency responders -- a
lot of people working hard.
But in order to make sure we do the job better, I have asked
Congress to create what they call the Department of Homeland Security.
And let me tell you why I asked them to do that. (Applause.) I asked
them to do it because there's over a hundred agencies in Washington
involved with homeland security. And they're scattered everywhere, and
it seemed like to me, in order to make sure that we align authority and
responsibility, they ought to be under one boss. At least the
functions for the homeland ought to be coordinated. If the number one
priority of the government is to protect you, we ought to have the
ability to make sure that culture changes within agencies so it becomes
the number one priority.
And I asked Congress to join me. And the House passed a bill, and
they still can't get it out of the Senate. They're fixing to go home,
and they're still arguing over homeland security. And I'll tell you
why: there are some up there who believe that they ought to micromanage
the process.
And I'll give you an example. They want these work rules to make
it difficult for the Secretary and the President, and future
Secretaries and President, to be able to move people to the right place
at the right time in order to respond to an enemy. For example, if
you're working for Customs, we thought it was a wise idea to have
people wear radiation-detection devices in order to be able to
determine whether somebody is trying to smuggle weapons of mass
destruction into America. The union wanted to take that to collective
bargaining. It would have taken over a year to determine whether or
not people could carry detection devices. That doesn't make any sense
for me.
We've got a border. We need to know who's coming in our country,
what they're bringing in the country, why they're bringing what they're
bringing into their country. (Applause.)
We've got three different agencies on the border, fine people,
really good people working hard. I'm proud that I'm a federal
federal employee with them. But we've got the Border Patrol and the
INS and the Customs. They wear different uniforms. In some sectors,
they may have different strategies. They need to be able to be knitted
up. They need to be able to work in concert. They need to be able to
do everything they can to make sure that we understand our borders are
functioning properly.
See, and I need the flexibility. We cannot leave a legacy behind
of micro-management and unnecessary work rules and inflexible
inflexible rules on managers. I'm all for public employees being able
to bargain collectively if that's what they choose to do. But I'm also
for making sure the President, in the name of national security, has
the capacity to put people at the right place at the right time to
protect America. (Applause.)
They need to get it done. They need to get something done up
there. They need to get it to my desk before they go home.
But the best way to protect our homeland, in the short run and in
the long run, is to hunt the killers down one person at a time and
bring them to justice. (Applause.)
This is a different -- this is a different kind of war. I spent a
lot of time talking to our fellow citizens about this, and it's
important for America to understand. I think they do. This is a
different kind of war. You don't measure progress in this war based
upon the number of ships sunk, or the numbers of tanks dismantled, or
the number of aircraft grounded.
You measure progress in this war by the number of killers brought
to justice. And that's why I say hunting them down one person at a
time, which is precisely the strategy we're employing.
It starts with upholding doctrine. The doctrine which says either
you're with us, or you're with the enemy, still stands. (Applause.)
We still got this coalition of freedom-loving nations we're working
together with. And we're hunting them down; the other day, one of them
popped up, popped his head up, named bin al-Shibh. He's no longer a
problem. (Applause.) He would have been a problem -- he would have
been a problem. This is the fellow that was bragging about the fact
that had he gotten a visa, he would have been one of the 20th he
would have been the 20th killer that would have come to America and
killed innocent lives. That's what he bragged about.
Thanks to hardworking -- the hard work of our intelligence folks
and our United States military and our friends and allies
(applause) this guy is not a problem anymore, and neither are a
couple of thousand of them just like him who have been detained. And
about that many weren't as lucky. (Applause.)
Slowly but surely, slowly but surely, we're dismantling the al
Qaeda network. Sometimes you'll see it on your TV screens, sometimes
you won't. (Applause.)
I sent a significant increase in our defense spending, the largest
since Ronald Reagan was the President, to the Congress for two reasons,
two reasons. One, any time we put our troops into harm's way, they
deserve the best pay, the best training, and the best possible
equipment. (Applause.)
And, secondly, I sent a message to friend and foe alike that, when
it comes to the defense of our freedom, it comes to our desire to make
the world more peaceful, there's no artificial deadline for America.
There's no time when, all of a sudden, it says, well, we the
calendar shows up and it's time to quit. There's no quit in this
country because we love freedom, we love our peace. (Applause.) We
love it to our children and to our children's children. (Applause.)
I asked Congress to get the defense bill to my desk. The House
passed it, the Senate passed it, but they haven't come to conclusion
yet. They need to get it to my desk before they go home. I hope they
will. I know there's a lot of good people from both parties working
hard to get the bill done. But we're at war and, at the very minimum,
they ought to get the defense bill passed in time of war, and get it to
my desk before they go home. (Applause.)
I want to remind you all about what I said earlier. We value each
life. Everybody counts. That is not just for American life, that's
every life, by the way. That's what America thinks.
I want to remind you as well that when we upheld the doctrine that
says, if you harbor a terrorist and feed one of them, you're just as
guilty as the terrorist. And when we upheld that doctrine in
Afghanistan, we went in not to conquer anybody, we went in to liberate
people from the clutches of a barbaric regime. (Applause.)
You need to tell your children, you need to tell children who
wonder about this war, about the nature of your country, that we love
peace, that we're going to secure our homeland. And that, thanks to
the United States of America in the first theater of the first war of
the 21st century, many young girls now go to school for the first
time. (Applause.) That this country loves freedom, and we value each
and every life. We also must recognize threats when we see them, and
deal with them.
See, September 11th taught us a new lesson about our
vulnerabilities. Prior to that, it used to be that we could be
protected by two oceans. And unrest or what was going on in a
different part of the world -- it might have been okay sometimes,
because we were protected. No longer is that the case; we're now the
battlefield, because of what we believe in and what we hold dear.
And since we're never going to relinquish those freedoms, or love
for freedom, since we're never going to back down from the things we
hold dear, we'll continue to be a battlefield until the world is more
secure.
We've got a true threat facing us, a threat that faces our very
homeland. And that is Saddam Hussein. And I want to explain to you
about Saddam Hussein, just quickly, if I might.
This is a man who has used weapons of mass destruction. He used
them on his own people. He used them on his neighbors.
This is a man who said he wouldn't have weapons of mass
destruction. Yet he does. This is a man who, eleven years ago, said
he wouldn't harbor terrorists, he wouldn't develop chemical or
biological weapons. This is a man who said he would free prisoners.
He has lied and deceived and denied for eleven long years.
This is a man who continues to torture people in his own country
who disagree with him. He's a cold-blooded killer. This is a man who
I believe strongly thinks he can use terrorist networks to foster his
own ambitions. This is a man who, when they went into Iraq the first
time, it was discovered that he was a short period away from developing
a nuclear weapon.
This is a man who has invaded two countries. This is a man who is
a threat -- he's a threat to the United States, he's a threat to
Israel, he's a threat to neighbors of his. He is a threat.
My job is to protect the American people. My job is to
anticipate. And so I went to the United Nations. I went to the United
Nations because I want the United Nations to be effective. I went to
the United Nations and -- to remind them that for eleven years, this
man has defied 16 resolutions. Time and time and time again, he has
ignored the United Nations.
I basically said, you can be an effective body to help us keep the
peace, or you can be the League of Nations. (Applause.)
It's up to them. It's up to them. We will continue to work with
our friends in the United Nations for peace to deal with threats, to
not ignore reality. I want the United Nations to be effective, I want
them to do their job of disarming Saddam Hussein.
The choice is theirs and the choice is also Mr. Saddam Hussein's
choice. There are no negotiations; there's nothing to negotiate. He
said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, and that's what
those of us who love peace expect. We expect him not to have weapons
of mass destruction.
But I want to tell you all, for the sake of our freedom, for the
sake of peace, if the United Nations won't make the decision, if Saddam
Hussein continues to lie and deceive, the United States will lead a
coalition to disarm this man before he harms America and our friends.
(Applause.)
The military's not my first choice. But peace is; peace is my
first choice.
And we're not -- what I just told you is a sentiment that's
becoming more and more shared in Washington. I was honored this week
to stand on the steps of the Rose Garden with Speaker Hastert, Minority
Leader Gephardt, Leader Lott, Senator Lieberman, Senator McCain,
Senator Bayh, just to name a few of both Republicans and Democrats who
are coming together to speak with one voice -- a voice out of concern
for the future of our country and for the future of our friends.
This country next week will be having a big debate on a really
important, historic resolution. I welcome the debate. This is not a
political debate. It's a debate about peace and security.
I also think it's about -- a debate about responsibility for those
of us who've been given high office. I believe we have a
responsibility to speak clearly, to defend that which we hold dear, to
be determined. And by doing so, we can achieve peace. We can achieve
peace for America by speaking strongly against terror, by holding our
line the values we hold free -- of freedom.
We can achieve peace in the Middle East. We can achieve peace in
South Asia. I know the enemy hit us, but out of the evil done to
America that day has a chance to come a more peaceful world. They also
hit us and out of the evil done to America that day can come a better
world for America, too.
You know, I don't know what was on their mind. They probably
thought that, after September the 11th, 2001, somebody might file a
lawsuit or two. (Laughter.) They didn't know. They didn't know who
they're dealing with. They're dealing with a great country, a country
which can be tough but a country which also can be compassionate.
See, in our midst of plenty, there are people who hurt in America,
people who are addicted, people who are lost. When you say American
Dream, they go, what the heck are you talking about American Dream.
They don't know.
And when one of us hurts, we all got to realize all of us hurt in
this country. We must do everything we can to eradicate those pockets
of despair. And the best way to do so in my judgment is to unleash the
character of our country. See, government can hand out money, and
sometimes we do a pretty darn good job of it. (Laughter.) But what
government cannot do is put hope in people's hearts or sense of purpose
in people's lives. (Applause.)
That's done when a fellow American hears the universal call to love
a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. If you want to
fight evil here in America, do some good. You see, it's the millions
of acts of kindness and compassion that really define the true
character of our country and will enable us to defy the killers by
making this country a more compassionate and decent place. Mentor a
child, help a shut-in, start a Boys' Club or a Girls' Club. Tell
somebody you love them.
These acts of kindness don't have to be huge, they've just got to
be significant enough to change America one person at a time. No, they
hit us, they hit us -- (applause) -- they didn't know what they were
getting into. They had no idea what they were getting into.
I truly believe that this country is going to be a stronger and
better place, because I understand the nature of America. See, a lot
of us took a step back after what happened to us that day, and realized
there's something more important in life than self, something more
important in life than materialism. That being a patriot is somebody
more than just puts their hand over their heart; being a patriot is
somebody who does love a neighbor.
And that's going across all across this land. You know, I first
got into politics because I believed that I could make a difference in
helping change a culture, from one which said if it feels good, do it,
and if you've got a problem, blame somebody else. See, I was hoping to
help usher in a period of personal responsibility, when each of us
understands we're responsible for the decisions we make in life.
If you're responsible, if you're a mother or dad, your most
important responsibility is to love your child with all your heart and
all your soul. (Applause.) If you're living -- if you're living in
Boston, Massachusetts, you're responsible for helping people in need,
not some faraway government. If you're running a corporation, you're
responsible for telling the truth to your employees and your
shareholders and the public. (Applause.)
It's happening. It's happening. Perhaps the most vivid example
was Flight 93. People flying across the country; they heard from their
loved ones that the plane was going to be used as a weapon.
They said goodbye. They used the word "love" a lot. They said a
prayer. A guy said, "Let's roll." They took the plane into the
ground, to serve something greater than themselves in life.
No, the enemy hit us. But see, they didn't know, they didn't know
the character of this great country.
They didn't realize that this country is a country which will fight
for peace, lead the world for peace. And this is a country which will
make sure that everybody who lives here understands that the great
American experience, the great hope of this country is available for
everybody. There's no doubt in my mind we can accomplish these
objectives because America is the greatest country, full of the finest
people, on the face of the Earth.
God bless. (Applause.)
END 1:28 P.M. EDT
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