For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 16, 2003
President Bush Discusses the Economy and the War on Terror
Remarks by the President on the Economy and the War on Terror
Radisson Hotel and Convention Center
San Bernardino, California
Audio
9:38 A.M. PDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for
coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's great to be in the Inland
Empire. (Applause.) With the 38th governor of the great state of
California. (Applause.)
We did have a good visit, and during that visit I was able to
reflect upon how much we have in common. We both married well.
(Laughter and applause.) Some accuse us both of not being able to
speak the language. (Laughter and applause.) We both have big
biceps. (Laughter.) Well, two out of three isn't bad. (Laughter.)
We both love our country. (Applause.) Arnold Schwarzenegger is going
to be a fine and strong leader for California. (Applause.) I'm proud
to call him friend.
Mark, I want to thank you and the Inland Empire Economic
Partnership for hosting this event. I appreciate it very much. And
thank you all for coming. (Applause.) I appreciate Teri Ooms, as
well, as the President and CEO of the Partnership. I want to thank
those from the military who are here, particularly James Rubeor, who is
the colonel at March Air Force Base. I appreciate you coming,
Colonel. (Applause.) I presume you left somebody behind to make sure
Air Force One is fueled up. (Laughter.)
We're leaving -- I say we -- Laura is coming from Washington this
morning. I'm sorry she's not here. You drew the short straw when you
got me. (Laughter.) But she is -- we're fixing to go overseas to
represent our great country. I'm looking forward to the trip to remind
the world about the challenges we face. I'm really here today to talk
about the challenges we face at home, as well.
I want to thank the local officials who have so kindly come. Most
of all, I want to thank our citizens who are here. Because I am
talking about two of the great priorities for our country. One is to
create jobs for America, and to win the war on terror -- the two
challenges we're faced with.
This country is being tested. We're being tested abroad, and we're
being tested here at home. And we're meeting the tests of history.
We're defeating the enemies of freedom, and we're confronting the
challenges to build prosperity for our country. That's what we're
doing. Every test of America has revealed the character of America.
And over the last two years, no one in the world -- friend or foe --
can doubt the will and the strength of the American people.
(Applause.)
When you become President you cannot predict all the challenges
that will come. But you do know the principles that you bring to
office -- principles that should not change with time or with polls. I
took this office to make a difference, not to mark time. (Applause.)
I came to this office to confront problems directly and forcefully, not
to pass them on to future Presidents or future generations.
(Applause.)
The challenges we face today cannot be met with timid, timid
actions or bitter, bitter words. Our challenges will be overcome with
optimism and resolve and confidence in the ideals of America. Because
we believe in our free enterprise system, we can be confident in our
economy's future.
Our economy has been through a lot. When I took office, the stock
market had been declining for nine months and the economy was headed
into a recession. And just as we started to recover, the killers came
and attacked America on September the 11th, and that stuck a blow to
the economy. And then investor confidence was shaken by scandals in
corporate America, dishonest behavior we cannot, and will not, tolerate
in our country. (Applause.) And then we faced the uncertainty that
preceded the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The country has been hit hard during these times, and so has the
great state of California. Declines in investment have hurt the tech
sector. You lost manufacturing jobs. Farmers are wondering whether
they'll be able to sell their products overseas. Unemployment in this
important state is too high.
But we acted. I acted to overcome these challenges to this state
and our country, and I acted on principle. Government does not create
wealth. The role of government is to create the conditions where
risk-takers and entrepreneurs can invest and grow and hire new workers.
(Applause.)
We know how to create jobs for America. It starts when Americans
have more take-home pay to spend -- (applause) -- more take-home pay to
spend, to save, or invest, which causes the economy to grow and,
therefore, someone is more likely to find a job. So I twice led the
Congress to pass historic tax relief for the American people. We
wanted tax relief to be as broad and as fair as possible, so we reduced
taxes on everyone who pays taxes. (Applause.) It doesn't make sense
to penalize marriage in the tax code, so we reduced the marriage
penalty. It costs a lot to raise children, and so we increased the
child credit -- from $600 per child to $1,000 a child. And we put the
checks in the mail directly to moms and dads.
It's counterproductive to discourage investment, especially during
an economic recovery, so we quadrupled the expense deduction for small
business investment and cut taxes on dividends and capital gains. It
is unfair to tax the estates people leave behind after a lifetime of
saving money and building a business or running a farm. (Applause.)
When you leave this world, the IRS should not follow you. (Laughter
and applause.) So we're phasing out the federal death tax.
I proposed and signed these measures to help individuals and
families. But they also help the small businesses of America. See,
most small business owners pay taxes under the individual tax rate
because they're subchapter S's or sole proprietorships. And,
therefore, small business has benefited from the tax cuts. Millions of
mom-and-pop companies are also benefiting from the higher expense
deductions. And this is important because small businesses create most
new jobs for our country, and they're usually the first to take risks.
They're usually the first to hire people. By helping small businesses,
we help our entire economy. (Applause.)
We are following a clear and consistent economic strategy, and I'm
confident about our future. (Applause.) Last month this economy
exceeded expectations and added new jobs. Inflation is low. After-tax
incomes are rising. Home ownership is at record highs. Productivity
is high. Factory orders, particularly for high-tech equipment, have
risen over the last several months. Our strategy has set the stage for
sustained growth. By reducing taxes we kept a promise, and we did the
right thing at the right time for the American economy. (Applause.)
Now our country is approaching a choice. Just as our economy is
coming around, some in Washington are saying now is the time to raise
taxes. To be fair, they think any time is a good time to raise taxes.
(Laughter.) At least they're consistent. (Laughter.) I strongly
disagree. (Applause.) A nation cannot tax its way to growth or job
creation. Tax relief put this nation on the right path and I intend to
keep America on the path to prosperity. (Applause.)
We're moving forward, but we're not satisfied. We cannot be
satisfied so long as we have fellow citizens looking for work. We must
continue to act boldly. So I'm asking Congress to join me in carrying
out a six-part plan for job creation for America. Businesses are more
likely to hire people if health care for workers is affordable.
(Applause.)
One way to help our small business owners is to allow association
health care plans, where small businesses can pool risk and gain the
same bargaining power as big businesses. (Applause.) And to help
control costs for small businesses, large businesses, and government,
we need effective legal reform to stop the frivolous lawsuits against
doctors. (Applause.)
We need more than tort reform just for medical liability. Unfair
lawsuits harm a lot of good and small businesses. There are too many
large settlements that leave the plaintiffs with a small sum and the
lawyers with the fortune. Class action and mass tort cases that reach
across state lines should be tried in the federal court, so the lawyers
cannot shop around looking for a favorable judge. (Applause.) We got
a good bill out of the House; it's stuck in the Senate. The Senate
must act. Job creation will occur when we've got legal reforms.
Our economy will grow stronger and create more jobs if we have a
sound national energy policy. When we we had a wake-up call this
summer. We need to modernize our electricity grids. (Laughter.) We
need to make sure that we encourage investments so that the capacity to
move electricity or natural gas is capable to sustain growth in the
21st century. We need to use our technology to develop clean and
efficient energy sources, so that we can sustain economic growth and
protect the environment. But one thing is for certain. For the sake
of national security, and for the sake of economic security, America
must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
More people will find jobs when employers do not have to waste time
and resources complying with needless government regulations.
(Applause.) For the sake of American workers, at the federal level
we're cutting unnecessary rules and making rules simpler to
understand. Small business owners should spend more time building
companies and pleasing customers, and less time filling out needless
forms. (Applause.)
To create jobs in this country, we need to pursue free trade
agreements that will open up foreign markets for American products.
Expanded trade will help businesses large and small. Businesses such
as UVP, Inc., and Maney Aircraft based right out of here, will help
them to sell more good and locally made products overseas.
Free trade must be two ways. We're good at what we do; we ought to
be allowed to sell what we do in other people's countries. Farmers
ought to have markets opened up to them. California's ranchers and
farmers are really good at what they do. We need a level playing field
when it comes to trade, and a level playing field will help us create
jobs here in America. (Applause.)
There's one more thing we need to do. We need to make sure that
all the tax relief we passed does not disappear in future years.
(Applause.) Employers need certainty in the tax code. Because of a
quirk in the legislation, the tax cuts are scheduled to go away unless
we act. When we passed tax relief, Americans did not expect to see
higher taxes sneak through the back door. If Congress is interested in
job creation, they will make every one of the tax cuts permanent.
(Applause.)
We have a responsibility to set good policies in Washington.
Governor Schwarzenegger has responsibility to set good policy in
Sacramento. Yet the true strength of this country is found in the
creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit of America. And that is one
reason, and that is the main reason, I am so confident about the future
of our economy. (Applause.)
As we overcome challenges to our economy, we are answering great
threats to our security. September the 11th, 2001 moved our country to
grief, and moved our country to action. We made a pledge that day, and
we have kept it. We are bringing the guilty to justice. We're taking
the fight to the enemy. (Applause.)
And now we see that enemy clearly. The terrorists plot in secret
and target the innocent. They defile a great religion, and they hate
everything this nation stands for. These committed killers will not be
stopped by negotiations; they will not respond to reason. The
terrorists who threaten America cannot be appeased. They must be
found; they must be fought; and they will be defeated. (Applause.)
In this new kind of war, America is following a new strategy. We
are not waiting for further attacks. We are striking our enemies
before they can strike us again. (Applause.) We have taken
unprecedented steps to protect the homeland. Yet wars are won on the
offensive, and America and our friends are staying on the offensive.
We're rolling back the terrorist threat -- not on the fringes of its
influence, but at the heart of its power. (Applause.)
We have sent a message understood throughout the world: If you
harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. And the Taliban
found out what we meant. (Applause.) Thanks to a great military --
(applause) -- Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror. The Afghan
people are free. And the people of America are safer from attack.
(Applause.)
And we fought the war on terror in Iraq. The regime of Saddam
Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, sponsored
terrorist groups, and inflicted terror on its own people. Nearly every
nation recognized and denounced this threat for over a decade.
Finally, the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 1441 demanded that
Saddam Hussein disarm, prove his disarmament to the world, or face
serious consequences. The choice was up to the dictator, and he chose
poorly. (Laughter and applause.)
I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the
American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by
and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein.
(Applause.) So our coalition acted in one of the swiftest and most
humane military campaigns in history. And nearly six months ago, the
statue of the dictator was pulled down. (Applause.)
Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence
of a clandestine network of biological laboratories, advanced design
work on prohibited longer-range missiles, and an elaborate campaign to
hide illegal programs. There's still much to investigate. Yet it is
now undeniable that Saddam Hussein was in clear violation of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. It is undeniable that Saddam
Hussein was a deceiver and a danger. The Security Council was right to
demand that Saddam Hussein disarm, and America was right to enforce
that demand. (Applause.)
Who can possibly think that the world would be better off with
Saddam Hussein still in power? Surely not the dissidents who would be
in his prisons or end up in his mass graves. Surely not the men and
women who would fill Saddam's torture chamber or rape rooms. Surely
not the families of victims he murdered with poison gas. Surely not
anyone who cares about human rights and democracy and stability in the
Middle East. There is only one decent and humane reaction to the fall
of Saddam Hussein -- good riddance. (Applause.)
Now our country is approaching a choice. After all the action we
have taken, after all the progress we have made against terror, there
is a temptation to think the danger has passed. But the danger has not
passed. Since September the 11th, the terrorists have taken lives in
Casablanca, Mombasa, Jerusalem, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad, Karachi, New
Delhi, Bali, Jakarta, and most recently American lives were lost by
terrorist attack in the Gaza.
The terrorists continue to plot. They continue to plan against our
country and our people. America must never forget the lessons of
September the 11th. America cannot retreat from our responsibilities
and hope for the best. Our security will not be gained by timid
measures. Our security requires constant vigilance and decisive
action. I believe America has only one option: We will fight this war
against terror until it is won. (Applause.)
We are fighting on many fronts. Iraq is now the central front.
Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists are trying desperately to
undermine Iraq's progress and throw the country into chaos. The
terrorists in Iraq believe their attacks on innocent people will weaken
our resolve. They believe we will run from a challenge. They're
mistaken. Americans are not the running kind. (Applause.)
The United States did not run from Germany and Japan following
World War II. We helped those nations to become strong and decent and
democratic societies that no longer waged war against America, that
became our friends. That's our mission in Iraq today. We're
rebuilding schools. We're repairing hospitals, restoring water and
electricity, so the Iraqi people can live a normal life.
Americans are providing this help not only because our hearts are
good, but because our vision is clear. A stable and democratic and
hopeful Iraq will no longer be a breeding ground for terror, for
tyranny and aggression. Free nations are peaceful nations. Our work
in Iraq is essential to our own security. And no band of murderers and
gangsters will stop that work or shake the will of America.
(Applause.)
Nearly every day in Iraq, we're launching swift precision raids
against the terrorists. Helped by intelligence from Iraqis, we're
rounding up the enemy and we're taking their weapons, and we're working
our way through the famous deck of cards. (Laughter.) We've already
captured or killed 43 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders. And
the other -- (applause) -- and the other 12 have got a lot to worry
about. (Laughter.) Anyone who seeks to harm our soldiers can know that
our soldiers are hunting for them.
Our military is serving with courage, and some of the best have
fallen. We mourn every loss. We honor every name. We grieve with
every family, and we'll always be grateful that liberty has found such
brave defenders. (Applause.)
In defending liberty we are joined by more than 30 nations now
contributing military forces in Iraq. Great Britain and Poland are
leading two multinational divisions. We're in that cause with fine
allies, and we thank them. And that includes the good people of Iraq.
Last week the first battalion of the new Iraqi army completed its
training. Within the year, Iraq will have 40,000-member military
force. Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens are guarding their own
borders, they're defending vital facilities, and they're policing their
own streets. Normal Iraqis want Iraq to be secure and peaceful.
(Applause.)
Our goal in Iraq is to leave behind a stable, self-governing
society which will no longer be a threat to the Middle East or to the
United States. We're following an orderly plan to reach this goal.
Iraq now has a Governing Council, which appointed interim government
ministers. Once a constitution has been written, Iraq will move toward
national elections. We want the process to go as quickly as possible,
yet it must be done right. The free institutions of Iraq must stand
the test of time.
Today, I want to thank the United Nations Security Council for
unanimously passing a resolution supporting our efforts to build a
peaceful and free Iraq. (Applause.) A democratic Iraq will stand as
an example to all the Middle East. We believe, and the Iraqi people
will show, that liberty is the hope and the right of every land. Our
work in Iraq has been long, and it's hard. It is not finished. Since
September the 11th, nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers
and airmen have been mobilized for this effort; 16,000 are currently in
the Middle East. They're playing a vital role for the defense of this
nation. Our country is grateful to those who serve and their families
who support them. (Applause.)
Americans have sacrificed in the cause of freedom and security, and
that cause goes on. Beyond Iraq, the war on terror continues. There
will be no quick victory in this war. But if we persevere, our victory
is certain. I'm confident of that victory because I know the character
of our military, shown in the conduct of young men like Joseph Robsky.
He's a career soldier. He served with the Marines in Bosnia and saw
the dangers of unexploded bombs; became an explosive ordnance disposal
specialist with the Army's 759th Ordnance Company, based in California
at Fort Irwin. Along with his unit, he was sent to Iraq. And on
September the 10th of this year, he was killed disarming a bomb. Hear
the words of his mother, Bonnie: My son always said he had a job to
do. He said the terrorist has to be stopped.
Staff Sergeant Joe Robsky's devotion to his nation will not be
forgotten. We'll always remember the words, terrorism must be
stopped. (Applause.)
This war on terror has brought hardship and loss to our country,
beginning with the grief of September the 11th. Let us also remember
that the first victory in this war came on that same day, on a hijacked
plane bound for the Nation's Capital. Somehow the brave men and women
on Flight 93, knowing they would die, found the courage to use their
final moments to save the lives of others. In those moments and many
times since, terrorists have learned about America. They won't -- we
won't be intimidated. We'll fight them with everything we got. Few
are called to show the kind of valor seen on Flight 93, or on the field
of battle. Yet all of us do share a calling: Be strong in adversity,
and unafraid in danger.
We Americans have come through so much. We have much yet to do.
If we're patient, united, and determined, our nation will prosper, and
our nation will prevail.
May God bless you. (Applause.) Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 10:09 A.M. PDT
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