For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 28, 2002
Remarks by the President in Colorado Welcome
Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum
Denver, Colorado
12:40 P.M. MST
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Thanks for such a warm
welcome. It's nice to be in a part of the world where the cowboy hats
outnumber the ties. (Applause.) I'm honored so many of you all
came please be seated, unless you don't have a seat. (Laughter.)
I'm honored so many came out today.
I've got some things on my mind that I'd like to share with you.
One thing that's on my mind is that we have a duty to our country to
participate in the political process. (Applause.) See, if you believe
in freedom, you have a duty to exercise your right to vote to begin
with. One of the reasons I'm coming to this big state is to encourage
people to do their duty, to go to the polls. I want all people, no
matter what their political party is or whether they even like a
political party, to exercise their obligation to vote.
Now, I've got some suggestions when you go -- (laughter and
applause) -- I've got some suggestions. For the sake of Colorado and
for the sake of the country, Wayne Allard needs to be sent back to the
United States Senate. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Six more years, six more years, six more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Whether he wins or not is going to depend upon many
of you here. See, grassroots politics makes a big difference. Turning
out that vote, getting on the telephones and putting up the signs,
going to your coffee shops or your houses of worship or your community
centers to put out the word that when you've got a good one like Wayne,
you've got to do everything you can to help him get back to
Washington.
You know, in Colorado, I'm sure you understand this. Around
Crawford, we kind of know the difference between a show horse and a
work horse. (Laughter and applause.) With Wayne, you've got somebody
who's willing to work on your behalf. When he says something, he means
it. And he does not need a focus group or a poll to tell him what to
think. (Applause.)
I'm proud to have traveled in with Joan today, too. Like me, he
married well. (Applause.) He drew the short straw. If he'd have been
smart, he'd have invited Laura to come and speak instead of me.
(Laughter.) And she's doing great, by the way. She's on her way from
Crawford back to Washington.
I don't know if you remember the story. I see my friend Ricky
Griess here; he and I both went to San Jacinto Junior High with Laura.
When I married her, when I asked her to marry me or, asked her to
marry me, she was a public school librarian. And she didn't like
politics. (Laughter.) And she didn't care for politicians, either.
(Laughter.)
Thank goodness she said yes when I proposed. She is a fabulous
First Lady for America. (Applause.) And she's for Wayne Allard. And,
like me, she's also awfully fond of your governor and first lady, Bill
Owens. (Applause.) Governor Bill Owens is one of the finest governors
in the United States. (Applause.) And you better make sure you put
him back in, too. He's got a great record. He cares deeply about the
citizens of this state and he's proven that he's a governor of
everybody. The thing I like about Governor Owens, he campaigns proudly
as a Republican, but he serves all the people of this state. And he's
going to get a big vote from Republicans and Democrats and
independents, because of the job he has done. (Applause.)
I'm not saying that just because he was born in Texas. (Laughter.)
I'm saying that because his record speaks loud and clear. And we love
Frances, too, she's done a great job as the first lady of Colorado.
(Applause.)
I'm proud to be up here with another fine United States Senator.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell is a class act and a good man. (Applause.)
I'm honored to be here with two members of the United States Congress:
Bob Schaffer and Tom Tancredo. I appreciate them coming. (Applause.)
And I'm here to make sure, to encourage you to work hard, to make
sure that Denny Hastert remains the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. (Applause.) And if you're interested in joining me
in doing that, you'll make sure Bob Beauprez gets elected to the United
States Congress. (Applause.)
I appreciate Bob. He represents the Colorado story. The Colorado
story from a pioneering family. He's an entrepreneur. He's a hard
worker. He's a God-fearing man. He's a decent soul. For the sake of
the country, it's important that Bob Beauprez become the United States
Congressman from the 7th district. (Applause.)
You need to work hard to get out the vote in this close race. You
need to turn out everybody you can find. And once you get through
getting him elected, make sure you don't forget Marilyn Mustgrave,
who's going to be the Congresswoman from Colorado. (Applause.)
Marilyn knows what she's doing. She doesn't need a bunch of on-the-job
training in Washington. She'll be -- she'll be a good, steady hand
from the get-go.
I also want to -- you to work hard for Senator -- State Senator Ken
Chlouber. Ken's running -- Ken's running for the Congress.
(Applause.) He, too, is a good, honest man; good, decent fellow who
will make a fine United States congressman.
No, it's important for the sake of our future that Denny Hastert
remain the Speaker of the House. I can work with him. And we need to
work together, because we've got some big projects ahead for America,
we've got some big challenges for our country. But you've got to know
you're looking at an optimist. There's nothing this country can't
achieve when we put our mind to it. (Applause.)
Some of the biggest -- some of the biggest challenges we face will
require us being able to work together in the -- with the
administrative branch and the legislative branch, in concert. We're
doing what's right for America. Listen, I worry about the fact that
some people can't find a job here in America. Any time one's looking
for work and can't find a job means we've got to do -- we've got to
have a pro-growth agenda. Any time somebody wants to work and can't
put food on the table means we've got a problem in America.
Let me tell you what we think, people on this stage believe: that
the tax cuts we passed, the tax cuts that Congress enacted was one of
the best remedies for making sure people can find work. And the reason
why is because when somebody has more of his own or her own money in
their pocket, they're more than likely to demand an additional good or
a service. And in the marketplace, when you demand a good or a
service, somebody is likely to produce the good or a service. And when
somebody produces the good or a service, somebody in Colorado or
elsewhere in the country is more likely to find work. The tax relief
we passed came at exactly the right time in American economic history.
(Applause.)
And I want to thank Senator Allard for his support. I don't have
to worry about his position on tax relief. Nor do I have to worry
about Bob Beauprez's position on tax relief. And that's the kind of
representation you need to have in Washington. It's still an issue,
because the Senate rules are such that after ten years, the tax relief
we passed goes away. See, that creates a sense of uncertainty in the
marketplace. It's hard to plan if the tax rules are going to change on
you.
The tax relief plan we passed made eminent sense for our small
businesses. Seventy percent of the new jobs in America are created by
small businesses. (Applause.) And when you reduce the rates, the
individual tax rates, it affects small business growth because most
small businesses are sole proprietorships, or limited partnerships.
For the sake of job creation, for the sake of enhancing the
entrepreneurial spirit, for the sake of strengthening the small
business sector in America, you need to send people to the Senate and
the Congress who will make the tax relief permanent. (Applause.)
I know there is concern about what they call "urban sprawl" here in
Colorado. One of the reasons why urban sprawl can get out of hand is
because farmers and ranchers are forced to sell their property before
they want to because of the death tax. The tax relief plan we passed
puts the death tax on its way to extinction. (Applause.) However,
because of the Senate rules, it doesn't go away after 10 years, it kind
of heads toward extinction, but doesn't die. It's like the Senate
giveth and then they taketh away. You better have you a United States
senator and members of the United States Congress who will support the
administration and make the repeal of the death tax permanent.
(Applause.)
We need members of the United States Congress who will work with
the administration to get an energy bill. We can't get an energy bill
out of the Congress. That doesn't make any sense. Listen, we are
dependent upon foreign sources of crude oil and some of those sources
of crude oil aren't really friendly to the United States of America. I
wouldn't call them friends.
For the sake of job security, for the sake of national security, we
need people in Congress who will work with us to get an energy bill
which encourages conservation, encourages renewable sources of energy
but, at the same time, encourages exploration, environmentally friendly
exploration, so we become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
I look forward to having people in the United States Congress with
whom I can work, like Wayne and Bob, to make sure we've got reasonable
forest policy. You all suffered a lot of burning here in the west.
Because we've had lousy forest policy, forest policy that didn't make
any sense; forest policy that just said, let's just ignore the forest,
let's just let this kindling build up, let's create a dangerous
situation. And then all of a sudden, lightening struck, or man may
strike, and these forests that have been not tended to, forests that
have been ignored, caught on fire and our heritage was destroyed.
For the sake of good environmental policy, common sense
environmental policy, send these two people up there so they can join
with us, so we can have a forest policy that protects our forest by
thinning out the dead wood, by making sure kindling doesn't pile up, to
prevent forest fires from happening in the first place through sound
forest management practices. (Applause.)
I look forward to working with these two men to make sure our
Medicare system works. Medicine has changed, and Medicare hasn't.
Medicine is modern, got all kinds of new technologies and drugs that
will help save lives, and Medicare is stuck in the past. For the sake
of honoring our commitments to our seniors, we need people in Congress
with whom we can work to make sure Medicare is modern and our seniors
have got a prescription drug benefit. (Applause.)
No, there's a lot of things we can work on, a lot of things we can
work on together to make America a stronger place and a better place.
One way I can I believe I can influence America in a positive way is
to make sure I get some good judges nominated for the federal bench.
(Applause.) The kind of judges who apply the law as it's written, not
who go on the bench to write new laws of their own. (Applause.) And
the Senate has got a lousy record on my judges. We need to change the
Senate for a lot of reasons, and one reason is to make sure we've got a
sound judiciary. There's no question where Wayne Allard stands when it
comes to good, conservative judges. He's a vote on which I can count.
(Applause.)
There's a lot we can do together to make sure the economy is strong
and the health care systems work, make sure environmental policy makes
sense. These two men up here on stage with me are running for office,
are exactly the right answers for Colorado.
We've also got to make sure that we are able to continue to do the
most important job we have, and that's to protect the homeland.
(Applause.) See America is still under threat. Oh, we can play like
we are aren't; we can play like there's not a threat out there, but
that's just not the way I am. I think we need to have people in
Congress around the country who are realistic, see clearly the threats
we face. We've got to do that. The most important job we have as
government is to protect innocent life. And the reason why the issue
is still alive is because there's an enemy lurking around out there
that is pretty tough. And they're resolute. And they're driven by
hatred. They hate what we love.
We love life, everybody matters as far as we're concerned,
everybody is precious. They have no regard for innocent life
whatsoever. (Applause.) They hate the fact that we love freedom. We
love our freedom of religion, we love our freedom of speech, we love
every aspect of freedom. (Applause.) And we're not changing.
(Applause.) We're not intimidated. As a matter of fact, the more they
hate our freedoms, the more we love our freedoms. (Applause.)
And so we've got to do everything we can to protect the homeland.
We've got to be realistic about the threats we face. See, after
September the 11th, 2001, it should be evident to all Americans that
these oceans no longer protect us. A while ago it would be easy to say
there's a conflict somewhere and we can pick or choose if we want to be
involved, or there may be a threat emerging, but we really don't have
to worry about it that much because we've got oceans to protect us.
Now we realize that the battlefield is here at home. The
battlefields used to be elsewhere; they're here at home now. Which
means the stakes are much higher. And when we see a threat, we've got
to be realistic about the threat, and we've got to be firm in our
resolve to deal with threats. And there's a true threat which exists
in Iraq. Oh, we can hope the man changes, but I want you to remember
that this is a person who has gassed his own people. It's a person who
claims he has no weapons of mass destruction, in order to escape the
dictums of the U.N. Security Council and the United Nations -- but he's
got them.
See, he'll lie. He'll deceive us. And he'll use them. He can't
stand America, he can't stand our friends and allies. For 11 years
he's defied 16 resolutions out of the United Nations. You see, 11
years ago, he said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction. He
told the world, fine, I got whipped and I'm not going to have weapons
of mass destruction. And then he defied the U.N., resolution after
resolution after resolution.
He's a threat to America and he's a threat to our friends. He's
even more of a threat now that we've learned that he's anxious to have,
once again to develop a nuclear weapon. He's got connections with al
Qaeda.
And so I went to the United Nations to raise the issue. I went
there for a couple of reasons. One, I want the United Nations to be
effective. It seems like to me that if the new war we fight requires
intelligence sharing and cutting off the money, they we ought to have a
group of nations working toward that end. I don't want the United
Nations to be the League of Nations. (Applause.) But it's their choice
to make. They have the choice to make, to free -- the leaders of the
free world have got a choice to make as to whether or not Saddam is
going to be allowed to defy their resolutions and weaken -- weaken
their capacity to keep the peace. Their choice.
And Saddam Hussein has got a choice to make, too. He can do what
he said he would do, he can disarm. The Congress debated the issue,
members from both parties stated their opinion. It was a good,
healthy, open debate. And the Congress has now joined with the
administration to speak with one voice, and here's our message. Our
message from America is this: if the United Nations does not have the
will or the courage to disarm Saddam Hussein, and if Saddam Hussein
will not disarm, for the sake of peace, for the sake of freedom, the
United States will lead a coalition and disarm Saddam Hussein.
(Applause.)
No, we've got to be realistic. We must be realistic here in
America. We can't hope for the best. Times have changed. The
battlefield is here, as we learned so clearly on that fateful day. And
they're still out there. The poor souls of -- in Indonesia who lost
their lives, an example of what I'm talking about. These people are
cold-blooded killers. But you've got to know there's a lot of good
people working hard here at home to protect you, people at the federal
level and at the state level, the local level; people working overtime
to run down any hint or to chase down any lead so we can deny, disrupt
any plans.
We get a hint, I'm telling you, we're moving on it. We're doing
everything we can. See, we are on alert. We're now aware of the
realities we face. But we can do a better job, and that's why I asked
Congress to join me in the creation of a Department of Homeland
Security, so we can better coordinate amongst the agencies involved
with the with securing the homeland, so we can set the homeland
security as the priority, if need be change cultures, so we've got
people all headed in the same direction, which is your protection.
And the House of Representatives passed a good bill. But it's
stuck in the Senate; they couldn't get it out of the Senate. They're
trying to extract too high a price from me.
For 40 years, Presidents have had the ability to suspend collective
bargaining rules in any department when the national security is at
stake. For 40 years, since John Kennedy, Presidents have had that
power. And now the Senate, in a time of war, wants to take that power
away from me. I'll have that power in the Agriculture Department, but
not in the Department of Homeland Security. And I'm not going to
accept a lousy bill from the Senate. (Applause.)
And I want to thank Wayne Allard for his support. I know where he
stands. (Applause.) The best way, however, to secure our homeland,
the best way to make sure we defend our freedoms and fulfill our
obligations to our children is to hunt these killers down one at a time
and bring them to justice, which is exactly what we're going to do.
(Applause.)
It's going to take a while. It's not an easy lift. It's going to
take a while. This isn't one of these instant gratification deals.
This is going to take a while to get it done.
The Congress responded to my budget request for the largest
increase in defense spending since Ronald Reagan was the President. I
want to thank them for that. I signed that the other day in the Rose
Garden. (Applause.) And we signed that I asked for that amount of
money for two reasons. One, any time this country commits our troops
into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, and the
best possible equipment. (Applause.)
We owe that to our troops and we owe that to the loved ones of our
troops. (Applause.) And for all the loved ones of our troops out
there, I want to thank you for your sacrifices and you tell your son,
daughter, grandson, granddaughter, however he or she is related to you,
that the Commander in Chief is confident in their capacity and proud of
their service to the United States of America. (Applause.)
And the other message we're sending loud and clear, that defense
bill sends this message loud and clear to friend and foe alike, that
we're in this deal for the long haul. There is not a calendar on my
desk in the Oval Office that says by such-and-such a date, you quit.
That's just that's not the way I think, that's not the way most
Americans think. Because they understand freedom is precious and they
understand the stakes. They can see clearly that the battleground has
shifted and we have an obligation and a duty for future generations of
America to stay the course. And that's exactly what we're going to
do.
The doctrine that says either you're with us or you're with the
enemy, it still stands too. And we're making progress at dismantling
the terrorist organization. We've hauled in a couple of thousand. One
by one, we're finding them and bringing them to justice. Like number
were not as lucky.
In either case, the sum total is they're not a problem to the
United States or our friends and allies anymore. The other day, one of
them popped his head up. See, these are the kinds of people that hide
in caves. They don't fly airplanes like the one I used to fly, the
102, or they don't sit in tanks. They hide in caves and they send
their youngsters to their suicidal deaths.
And so you've got to treat this like a manhunt. One time, a guy
the other day named Bin al-Shibh, who was going to be the twentieth
hijacker, he popped his head up and he's not a problem anymore.
(Applause.)
We've got a lot of good people chasing them down, a lot of good
people. Sometimes you'll see about it, read about it or see it on TV,
and sometimes you're just not going to see it. But you've got to know
the manhunt is on and it doesn't matter how long it takes, doesn't
matter how long it takes. I like our chances better than theirs.
We've got a fabulous military. And we've got a great resolve.
(Applause.)
I can't imagine what was going through their mind. They must have
thought our religion was materialism. They must have thought we were
so self-centered and so absorbed with our own kind of shallow
materialism that all we would do after September the 11th was file a
lawsuit. (Laughter.) They just didn't understand, and they're going to
pay a dear price for doing what they did to America. (Applause.)
You see, this great country -- this country understands what's at
stake. This country is strong. This country is resolved.
And by being strong and by being resolved, there's going to be some
incredible good come out of the evil done to America, starting with
peace. Amidst all the talk you're hearing, you've got to understand my
vision is for a peaceful world.
Oh, I understand the stakes, I see the risks. But the dream and
it's an achievable dream is for the world to be peaceful. Not only
for Americans, but for people in parts of the world that have quit on
peace, parts of the world like the Middle East, where they just think
peace doesn't have a chance. I believe we can achieve peace. I
believe this nation can lead the world to a peaceful world.
We're going to have to be strong, we're going to have to be tough
at times. And we've always got to remember the value we hold most
dear, freedom, is not an American-created value -- it's a God-given
value that applies to everybody around the world. (Applause.) No, we
can achieve a peaceful world, and also at home we can achieve a more
compassionate world as well.
The evil done to America caused a lot of good folks to take a step
back, to kind of take an inventory of that which is important in their
lives. A lot of good folks took a step back and said, how can I best
serve my country, what can I do, what can I do to help fight evil? And
the answer is, if you really want to help, love your neighbor just like
you'd like to be loved yourself.
See, government can hand out money and we can do things. We'll
work hard on education matters, we'll work hard to make sure the
Medicare system works. And government can pass money out. Sometimes
we do a pretty good job of it. (Laughter.) But what it cannot do is
put hope in people's hearts or sense of purpose in people's lives.
The best way to convert the evil done to America to some good is to
recognize there's pockets of despair and hopelessness in America.
There's loneliness, there's addiction. There are people who hurt in
our midst. And so long as some of us hurt, we all hurt. And the best
way to cure that loneliness and hurt is for a fellow American to put
their arm around somebody in need and say, I love you, what can I do to
help you? (Applause.)
You see the enemy had no idea the enemy had no idea who they
were hitting. They didn't understand America like I do and you do.
This is a country full of people that are decent and honorable, people
who learned the lesson of Flight 93. That was the lesson of people who
were flying across the country. They heard the plane was going to be
used as a weapon. They told their loved ones, goodbye. They said a
prayer. One guy said, let's roll. They took the plane into the ground
to serve something greater than themselves.
No, the American spirit of sacrifice and service and compassion and
love is alive and strong and therefore, I boldly predict that out of
the evil done to America will not only come a more peaceful world, but
out of the evil done to America will be a more compassionate America,
where the great hope of this country, the great vibrancy of the
American Dream, will be alive and well in every corner, in every
neighborhood here in America.
I'm an optimistic fellow because I understand that America is the
greatest country, full of the finest people on the face of this earth.
Thank you for coming. May God bless you and may God bless America.
(Applause.)
END 1:12 P.M. EDT
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