For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 5, 2002
Remarks by the President at John Sununu for Senate Reception
Expo Center of New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
12:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Listen, it's good to be
back. I had the honor of speaking in the Armory before, and it's the
place where I cut my teeth in New Hampshire politics by flipping
pancakes. (Laughter.) But it was reminiscent of some really good
times for Laura and me, and I recognize a lot of faces here, and I want
to thank you all for coming.
I'm here because I want to make it as plain as I can, John Sununu
will be a great United States Senator for New Hampshire. (Applause.)
It's in my interests, it's in New Hampshire's interests, it's in the
country's interest that John Sununu be elected. (Applause.)
I want to thank you all for working hard for his election. There's
no doubt in my mind that we will be able to work together to do what's
right for the country.
I'm impressed by his record. First of all, I know something about
what I'm about to speak -- he and I share something in common: we've
both got mothers still telling us what to do. (Laughter and
applause.) He assures me he's still listening to her -- (laughter) --
and I'm listening to mine. (Laughter.) Most of the time. (Applause.)
We both married above ourselves. (Laughter.) I want to thank
Kitty Sununu, mother of three, for standing by John's side. It's tough
to run for office, it's hard on a family. But if you've got a good
marriage and if you prioritize your family, you can do anything. And I
appreciate the Sununus' love for each other, and I appreciate their
family values a lot. (Applause.)
Laura sends her best. She made a lot of friends here in New
Hampshire. She sends her love to her friends. She sends her best, of
course, to the Sununus. She wishes she could be here; she is opening
up a museum in Portland, Maine. You all drew the short straw.
(Laughter.) But she's doing great. She's doing great. I have been
incredibly proud of her.
The country has seen her grace and her strength and her calm when
the pressure was on. People began to realize why I asked her to marry
me, and some are a little confused as to say why she said yes, but
nevertheless. (Laughter.) I love her dearly, she is a fabulous First
Lady for the country. (Applause.)
I appreciate Judd Gregg. He's been a friend, he's a solid
citizen. He's a really, really good United States Senator. He, too,
married well, it's great that Kathy's here. But the Greggs are close
friends of Laura and mine, we value their friendship, and I know you
value his service to the great state of New Hampshire. (Applause.)
I want to say a word about Bob Smith. Bob served well in the
United States Senate. I was incredibly impressed by his graciousness
on what had to have been a very difficult night for Bob and his
family. He was gracious about John, he was strong in his support. New
Hampshire has been well represented by Senator Bob Smith. I, too, am
proud to call him friend. And I appreciate his service to the
country. (Applause.)
I'm also proud to serve in Washington, D.C., with a fine United
States Congressman, a fellow I got to know pretty well as I traveled on
John's Winnebago all over the -- all over the state of New Hampshire,
and that's Charlie Bass. I appreciate you, Charlie. (Applause.)
I also look forward to being joined in Washington by the
Congressman Jeb Bradley. I appreciate the campaign Jeb is running --
(applause) -- and I'm honored to be here with the next Governor of the
state of New Hampshire, Craig Benson. I appreciate you, Craig.
(Applause.)
I know something about being a governor, and I know what it takes
to get elected. And I am impressed by the campaign that Craig is
running. He takes nothing for granted; he's out there in those coffee
shops and knocking on those doors. He is traveling this state. He has
got a burning desire to do what's right for all the people of New
Hampshire. I'm confident he's going to win, and I'm equally as
confident that he'll do a great job as your governor. (Applause.)
But most of all, I want to thank the grassroots activists of the
state of New Hampshire for coming. I want to thank you for what you
have done, and, more importantly now, what you're going to do.
And I know what you can do in this state. You can turn out the
vote. You can put up the signs. You can mail the mailers. You can
get on the phones. John Sununu will be elected the United States
Senator, not only because he's got a good message and a good heart, but
because of your hard work and your dedication to turn out the vote.
(Applause.)
I want to thank the Chairman of the party, John Dowd, and Tom Rath,
the National Committeeman, and Nancy Merrill, the National
Committeewoman, for leading an active, strong grassroots organization.
You need to go to your coffee shops. You need to go to your churches
or your synagogues or your mosques or any other place of worship. You
need to go to your community centers, and you need to tell everybody in
the state of New Hampshire -- Republican, Democrat, or Independent --
that you've got some fine candidates; that John Sununu needs to be the
United States Senator. (Applause.)
And we've got some tough tasks ahead of us. We must work together
to make sure Americans can find work. The way I like to put it is
anytime anybody who wants to work can't find a job, we must do
everything we can to seek to expand the job base.
Now, the role of government -- John and I know this -- is not to
create wealth. The role of government is to create an environment in
which the small business can grow to be a big business, in which the
entrepreneur, the spirit of America can flourish, in which our
producers have got a chance to make a living. And so therefore, I need
somebody in the Senate who understands that -- somebody who also
understands the importance, when the economy is slow, of letting people
keep more of their own money. (Applause.)
New Hampshire citizens of all political stripes must understand
that when the economy is slow, that you don't increase taxes on the
American people, but you let people keep more of their own money.
Because when they do, they demand a good or a service, and when they
demand a good or a service, somebody in the marketplace is likely to
produce the good or a service. And when somebody makes that decision
to produce a good or a service, somebody is more likely to find work.
For the sake of jobs in New Hampshire, for the sake of economic
vitality in this state, you need a United States Senator who will join
me in making the tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)
John Sununu was with me from the beginning. There was no question
in my mind where he stood. He didn't need to take a poll, or a focus
group, to make his decision about tax relief. He knew it was the right
thing for the national economy. The problem we have, and the reason we
have to continue to talking about this issue is because of a quirk in
the Senate rules. And I'm going to let old Judd, after I leave back to
go see my mother, tell you what -- how this happened.
Let me just put it to you this way, in plain language. The Senate
has got the kind of rule where you pass the tax cut and then ten years
it goes back to where we were. The way I like to put it, if I can --
in plain English is, on the one hand, they taketh away, on the other
hand, they giveth. On the one hand they give tax relief, on the other
hand, you don't get tax relief. It's hard to explain in Manchester,
New Hampshire, and it's darn sure hard to explain in Crawford, Texas.
But this isn't hard to explain: that wouldn't happen if you had a
United States Senate which would vote to make the tax cuts permanent,
and that senator would be John Sununu. (Applause.)
A couple of other things that we need to do in Washington to make
sure our folks can find work. Listen, we've got a lot of construction
projects which are on hold because people can't get terrorism
insurance. The enemy hit us, and they affected our economy. And one
way they did was a lot of construction projects -- like $15 billion
worth -- are not going forward because people can't get insurance,
because of a potential terrorist attack.
I think it is a legitimate use for Congress to kind of underwrite
terrorism insurance. There is 300,000 jobs going begging, 300,000
hard-hats not finding work because we can't get terrorism insurance.
It doesn't cost the American people anything if there's not another
attack. But it'll help the economy grow. It'll help make people --
it'll help people find work.
John Sununu understands this. What we need to do is pass a
terrorism insurance bill that does not reward trial lawyers, but works
to put our hard-hats back to work in America. (Applause.) And,
finally, there's a lot of things we can do to make the environment for
economic growth strong. But one thing we need to do for certain is to
elect people who understand whose money we spend in Washington.
You need to listen carefully to the debates that goes on in our
nation's capital. You see, some of them are -- goes on with people
trying to get to the nation's capital. Some of them, they talk about
the government's money. Folks, we don't spend the government's money
in Washington -- we spend your money. And you better make sure you
send somebody to Washington who is a fiscally responsible person.
I know firsthand that John is, after all, he's on the -- he's vice
chairman of the Budget Committee in the House. And, by the way, the
House Budget Committee passed my budget, so the House has a budget. It
gets us back to balance quickly. It funds priorities. It gets us back
to balance as quickly as possible. It says, let's be responsible with
your money. We can't get a budget out of the United States Senate.
And if you don't have a budget, and because every idea in Washington
sounds like a brilliant idea, even though the price tag may run in the
billions, we've got the danger of the Congress overspending. There's
no question in mind that John Sununu will be responsible with the
people's money when he becomes the United States Senator. (Applause.)
I think a lot about our economy. I'm going to do everything I can
to increase the job base. I spend a lot of time on it. It's one way
to make sure the country is stronger. Another way to make sure we've
got a strong country is to make sure that our federal bench is a bench
full of judges that don't use their position from which to legislate.
We've got plenty of legislators. We don't need our judges legislating,
we need them strictly interpreting the Constitution. (Applause.)
That's an issue in this campaign -- the bench is an issue in this
campaign. I named a fabulous lady from Texas, named Priscilla Owen.
She'd been running statewide in our state several times, got elected
overwhelmingly, had strong Republican support, strong Democrat
support. Number one in her law school class, or tops of her law school
class. She's ranked the highest rating possible by the American Bar
Association. She is a -- you know, she'll interpret the Constitution,
she's not going to try to rewrite it.
And I sent her name up there and they -- they weren't fair with her
record. They totally politicized the issue. They made this a huge
political deal. For the sake of a solid judiciary, I need John Sununu
in the United States Senate. (Applause.)
I named a new man, named Michael Estrada, to one of our higher
benches. It's a great American success story. He couldn't speak
English when he came here -- he's now being nominated by the President
to one of the highest benches because he's a brilliant lawyer. He's
got fantastic support from Democrats and Republicans. John Sununu will
cast his vote with Michael. Judd Gregg would. I wonder if the other
candidate in this race will stand up and support the judicial nominees
of a President George W. Bush. For the sake of a strong judiciary, we
need John Sununu in the United States Senate. (Applause.)
I also appreciate his understanding that our most important
priority is to protect the homeland. See, there's an enemy which
stills hate America lurking around. And so long as they lurk, we must
do everything we can to protect America. That's our most important
job, is to protect you. There's a lot of good folks working hard to do
this. We're running down every lead, every hint, every idea that
somebody might hurt us, we're following up on.
But in order to make sure I can do a better job, I ask the Congress
to join me in the creating of a Department of Homeland Security.
Listen, when I was campaigning here I didn't say, vote for me, I want
your government to be bigger. I did say, I want your government to
work, where it needs to work. And it needs to work in protecting the
homeland. There's over a hundred agencies scattered around Washington
that have got something to do with the homeland.
So for the sake of better managing the department, for the sake of
being able to get people to work together, I said, let's have it in one
agency. The House heard it. Judd Gregg has heard it. Sununu
supported it. But it's tied up in the Senate. And here's the issue.
Some senators want there to be a thick book of managerial regulations
which will prevent a President from putting the right people at the
right place at the right time in order to respond to an enemy. Some
people want there to be more bureaucracy than managerial flexibility.
One example, just one of many: we believe, and the Customs Service
believes, that people ought to be wearing radiation-detection devices
when they inspect cargo, to determine whether or not a weapon of mass
destruction is coming into the country. The union representing the
Customs agents said, wait a minute, you can't make people wear
radiation-detection devices. That's a matter for collective bargain,
we need a collective bargain over that -- which could have taken a year
to do that.
I need flexibility. I need a Senator who understands that this
President and future Presidents -- (applause.)
The best way to protect America, however, is to chase these killers
down, one at a time, one person at a time. And that is precisely what
we are going to do.
And they're out there. They just are. We're making progress. The
doctrine that says either you're with us or you're with the enemy,
still stands. It's just as important today as it was the day after the
attacks on September the 11th. And so there's a lot of folks working
with us. We've got good intelligence, we're sharing it better than
ever before. We're cutting off their money. We're denying safe
haven. If we can find them lighting somewhere, we get them on the
run. And we pulled in a couple of thousand of them.
And sometimes it makes news when we do it and sometimes it
doesn't. This is just a different kind of war. In the old days, you
destroyed an enemy's tanks and you say, well, we're making progress.
Sunk a couple of ships and we're making progress.
These folks don't have ships, they don't have tanks. They hide in
caves and they send youngsters to their suicidal death. That guy
al-Shibh, bin al-Shibh popped up, and he's no longer a problem.
(Laughter.) We hauled him in. (Applause.)
Slowly but surely, we are dismantling an al Qaeda terrorist
network, and we've got a lot more work to do. By the way, we probably
captured a couple of thousand of them, and just that many weren't as
lucky, thanks to the United States military. (Applause.)
By the way, that doctrine that says if you harbor one of those
terrorists, you're just as guilty as the terrorists, it still stands,
too. But I want you to remind you -- I want you to remind your kids,
in all the midst of this talk about military this and that, that this
great nation did what it said it was going to do. And at the same time
it upheld doctrine, it liberated people.
We didn't go to Afghanistan, nor will we ever go anywhere, to
conquer anybody. See, we believe in freedom. That's why the enemy
hates us. We believe in freedom, and we went into Afghanistan -- we
freed people. Thanks to the United States -- (applause) -- thanks to
the United States young girls now go to -- many young girls now go to
school for the first time because of our belief in freedom. Everybody
counts. Everybody has got worth. (Applause.)
I sent a bill up there to increase defense spending, a big
increase, for two reasons. I hope you appreciate the reasons why.
One, anytime we put our troops in harm's way, we owe it to our troops,
we owe it to their loved ones, to make sure they've got the best
training, the best pay, and the best possible equipment. (Applause.)
And secondly, it's a clear signal that we're in this deal for the long
haul; that there's not a artificial time line that says, well, we've
had enough, we're kind of tired, let's quit.
See, we need to send a signal -- we know this here at home, but
others need to know that when it comes to the defense of things which
we hold dear, namely our freedoms -- the freedom to worship the way we
see fit, the freedom to debate political issues in an open forum, the
freedom of the press -- when it comes to the defense of our freedoms,
there is no time frame. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It
doesn't matter how difficult the task. The United States of America
will defend our freedoms. (Applause.)
I haven't seen that Defense bill yet. Judd voted for it and John
voted for it; I haven't seen it yet. It's stuck in committee. They
don't need to be playing politics with the Defense bill right now.
They need to get the bill done before they go home. They need to get
the Defense bill on my desk. (Applause.)
I said we're in this deal for the long haul, and we are. We'll be
chasing al Qaeda down. They think they can hide somewhere. They just
cannot do that with America. The long arm of American and allied
justice will seek them out.
We've got some other tasks ahead as well, to keep the peace and to
make our country secure. And that of course is Iraq. There's now a
national debate, one which I encourage; one which I think is helpful.
A national debate on how best to keep the peace; how best to secure the
homeland; whether or not we ought to deal with threats before they
become so severe that we may never be able to deal with them. It's an
important debate.
Monday night I'll be giving a talk to the nation about my take on
the debate. I want to share some thought with you right quick, and
it's this. The facts and the history of Iraq are pretty clear to me.
This is a man who told the world he would not have weapons of mass
destruction -- your chemical, your biological or nuclear weapons. For
eleven years he has lied.
On the one hand, he said he wouldn't have them -- he does. And
remember, this is a guy who's used them. He not only has denied and
deceived about possessing weapons, he's actually used the weapons of
mass destruction. He's used the weapons of mass destruction against
neighbors. He has used weapons of mass destruction against his own
people. He hates America. He hates many of our friends. He hates
Israel. He's a man who contiues his own people who might dissent.
When the inspectors were able to go into the country and have
unfettered access, it was discovered that he was a short period away
from owning a nuclear weapon.
It's an important debate we're going to have here in America about
how best to secure the homeland. I took the debate to the United
Nations a while ago. One, I want the United Nations to be effective.
I want there to be a body of freedom-loving nations that when they
speak, something actually can happen.
This is a man, as I reminded them, who has looked the United
Nations in the eye for eleven long years and has defied them. Sixteen
times the Security Council passed resolution after resolution after
resolution after resolution, and sixteen times he defied them.
My message was, we want you to be effective. We've got a new kind
of war we're fighting. You need to be effective. We want you to
work. But it's your choice. You can either be an effective United
Nations, or you can be the League of Nations. You get to pick.
I also have said as clearly as I can that this is an issue of
inspectors. That's what the process oriented people want. This is an
issue of disarmament. This is a man who has said he would disarm. The
United Nations said he must sixteen times. He said he would, but he
hasn't. The choice is his to make, as well. And those choices will be
made over time here. But for the sake of our peace, for the sake of
our children's future, if the United Nations will not act in strong
face, if they continue to be ineffective; if Saddam Hussein makes the
choice not to disarm, the United States and a lot of our friends will
disarm him. For the sake of peace, for the sake of freedom for the
sake of our future and our children's future, we will disarm him.
(Applause.)
The use of our military is my last choice, not my first. I take my
responsibilities very seriously as the Commander in Chief. The use of
force is not my first choice, it's my last. But my first choice, as
well, is not to allow the world's worst leader to blackmail, to harm
America with the world's worst weapons.
The United States Congress will speak to this issue next week.
It's a very, very important debate. This is not a partisan discussion,
it's a philosophical discussion. It's a discussion that's a weighty
matter. I look forward to the debate, I actually encourage the
debate.
I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood
with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear
statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will. We owe it to our
children to think about this issue, we owe it to the future. My belief
is, is that the enemy hit us, and out of the evil can come some
incredible good. And one of the good that can come is peace.
The United States can lead the world to peace if we're clear and
forthright and determined. If we speak clearly about terror and its
threats. If we hold our values, God-given values in the forefront, and
that is freedom, we can achieve a peaceful world. (Applause.)
And you know what else we can do here in America? We can achieve a
better world for all of us too, better world for each person who lives
in this country. (Applause.) There are pockets of despair and
loneliness in America. My attitude is, when our citizens hurt, we all
hurt. I recognize the limitations of government, I think John does, as
well. I mean, we can -- government should educate, see that people are
educated. Passed a good education bill. John talked about he was a
strong stalwart, as was Judd, who actually was an author, of holding
people accountable. It says every child can learn in America. We are
going to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations in this country
and we're going to insist every child learns. (Applause.)
Government can make sure the health systems are modern. Medicare
is old. Medicine has changed, Medicare hasn't. Medicine is modern,
Medicare -- and a really incredibly important program -- has not
changed with medicine. For the sake of our seniors, we need a
prescription drug plan and a modern Medicare system. (Applause.)
That's an important part of government being involved with making our
society better.
But what government cannot do is cause people to love one another.
Government cannot put hope in people's hearts. That's up to us, our
fellow citizens. My call to America has been and will continue to be
to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
If you want to fight evil, do some good. Do some good. Help
somebody in need. Mentor a child. Go to a Boy Scout, or run a Boy
Scout or a Girl Scout troop. Feed the hungry. Find shelter for the
homeless. There are many ways to fight the evil that has been done to
our country.
You see, it's the millions of acts of kindness and decency by our
fellow citizens that reflect the true nature and character of this
country. No, the enemy hit us -- they thought, they thought, they
probably thought that after September 11, 2001, we would file a lawsuit
or two. (Laughter.)
What they didn't realize is this country is plenty tough. And the
world is beginning to see we're plenty -- we're plenty compassionate,
too. (Applause.) That in our -- that our strength is our will and our
resolve and our dedication to values we hold dear, and our strength is
our collective heart.
You know, one reason I got into politics was because I wanted to be
a part of a cultural shift, just a small part of a change. I think the
enemy accelerated that cultural shift from one in which it said if it
feels good, just go ahead and do it, and if you've got a problem, blame
somebody else; to a culture in which each of us understand we are
responsible for the decisions we make in life.
If you are a mom or a dad, your most important responsibility is to
love your child. If you're living in Manchester, New Hampshire, you
have the responsibility for the quality of life. You have the
responsibility to making sure the schools work. If you're running
corporate America, you have a responsibility to tell the truth, and to
treat your shareholders and your employees with dignity and respect.
(Applause.)
Perhaps the most vivid example about what I'm talking about, about
serving something greater than yourself as part of a culture of
personal responsibility, came on Flight 93. It's an important moment,
in my judgment, about what took place on America on that terrible day.
We had citizens flying across the country. They were told on the
telephone that the airplane they were on was being used as a weapon.
They told their loved ones goodbye, they said a prayer -- history will
show they said a prayer. A guy said, "Let's roll." They took the
plane in the ground.
They sent a clear signal to America that serving something greater
than yourself in life is an incredibly important part about being the
ultimate American, about serving our country. (Applause.)
No, when the enemy hit us, they didn't know who they were hitting.
See, out of the evil done to America is going to come incredible good.
The world will be more peaceful. This country will be able to
eliminate, work to eliminate the pockets of despair.
There's no question in my mind we face challenges as a nation. But
there's no question in my mind we can overcome them. After all, this
is the finest nation, the greatest nation, on the face of the earth.
Thanks for coming to help John. May God bless you all, and may God
bless America. (Applause.)
END 12:51 P.M. EDT
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