For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 22, 2002
Remarks by the President at Pennsylvania Welcome
United Sports Training Center
Downingtown, Pennsylvania
10:45 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Listen, thanks for coming out this
morning. It's such an honor being here. I appreciate -- I appreciate
your interest in our country. I appreciate your interest in our
democracy. I want to thank you for caring about --
AUDIENCE: Viva Bush.
THE PRESIDENT: Gracias. (Applause.)
As I was saying -- as I was saying, I want to thank you for caring
about the elections, the upcoming elections. It's vitally important
that citizens all across our country take their responsibilities
seriously and to show up to the polls. Of course, I've got a few
suggestions on who those citizens might support, starting with right
here in Pennsylvania. (Applause.)
It is in Pennsylvania's interests that Jim Gerlach become the next
United States congressman. (Applause.) I say that with confidence,
because he is a good, honorable man who's got a good, strong record.
People know he's the kind of fellow who does in office that which he
says he's going to do. He's got a track record that inspires
confidence from people of both political parties, people who don't care
about political parties. No, he's the right man for this job, and I
want to thank you for supporting him. (Applause.)
I say supporting him -- thanks for showing up. But just showing up
isn't good enough. See, I understand how you win elections, and that's
when people such as yourself not only go to the polls, but you convince
your neighbors to go to the polls. You go to your community centers,
your houses of worship, your -- wherever you go to hang out --
(laughter) -- your coffee shops, and you tell your neighbors about
their responsibility. And while you're doing that, you tell your
neighbors about Jim and others running for office.
And while you're telling them about Jim, you might as well tell
them about your next governor. (Applause.) When you're out rounding
up the vote, make sure you round up the vote for Mike Fisher and Jane
Earll. (Applause.) I know something about his track record in getting
votes. In the year 2000, I was a pretty heavy lift for the ticket, I
must confess, here in Pennsylvania. He out-polled me by not 1,000
votes, not tens of thousands of votes, but hundreds of thousands of
votes. This is a man who can appeal to people of both parties, because
people in Pennsylvania know he can get the job done. (Applause.)
No, we're here to thank you for your care about America. I'm here
to thank you for your participation in the political process. I'm here
to ask you to turn out the vote. I'm here to ask you to do whatever it
takes to make sure you crank up a good, healthy vote. It's important
for our country. I'm also here to talk about how we can work together
to make America a safer and stronger and better place.
Before I do, I want to recognize a fine United States Senator, and
that is Arlen Specter. I'm proud that Arlen is here with us today.
(Applause.) And I'm sorry that old Rick Santorum isn't going to be
here, but he's a good fellow. (Applause.) He's a good fellow, too. I
appreciate these two Senators a lot.
I'll tell you one reason I appreciate them. Because they
understand what it takes to have a good federal judiciary.
(Applause.) I've appointed good people to the bench; good, solid
citizens who are not only fine lawyers -- (applause) -- but people who
understand their job is not to serve as a legislator, but as a judge.
We've got plenty of legislators. (Applause.) What we need are good,
solid, sound judges. And the record of the United States Senate is
abysmal when it comes to confirming my judges; it is a lousy record.
If we had more senators like Specter and Santorum, we would get the
judges through. We would have a record for which the Senate could be
proud. We need to change the Senate for a lot of reasons, and one of
them is to make sure we've got a good, sound federal judiciary.
(Applause.)
I appreciate Governor Schweiker for being here. I appreciate his
service to the state of Pennsylvania. (Applause.) He has done a
really fine job. He has done a good job and I'm proud of his service
and I know he is, as well. I appreciate Mark. He's a friend. I'm
honored you're here today, Mark, and thanks for doing what you did for
the good folks of Pennsylvania. (Applause.)
I want to thank the members -- I want to thank the members here
from the mighty Pennsylvania congressional delegation. That would be
Greenwood, Platts, Pitts, and Sherwood. These fine members of the
United States Congress have been steady friends and strong allies, and
they represent your state with class and distinction. (Applause.)
Thank you all for coming.
We've got another candidate on stage who we certainly hope she
wins. That would be Melissa Brown running for the United States
Congress. (Applause.) Melissa is running on a lot of issues. One
issue she holds dear to her heart, as do I, is medical liability
reform. (Applause.) It is a -- it's a key issue. And one of the
things we've got to worry about is the affordability of health care and
the accessibility of health care. We want to make sure our citizens
have got access to health care at reasonable prices. One of the
reasons why prices is rising is because of frivolous and junk lawsuits
against our medical community. (Applause.)
Everybody ought to have access to the courts, and that's vital.
People ought to be able to take their claims to the court of law. But
the problem is, the scales of justice have tipped way too far one
direction. There are too many lawsuits which prevent good people from
getting their cases heard. There are too many lawsuits which are
driving up the cost of medicine. There are too many lawsuits which are
driving good doctors out of the practice of medicine. We need medical
liability reform. (Applause.)
I appreciate you running, Melissa, and I wish you all the best. I
want to thank Alan Novak and Bob Asher and all the good folks who are
the grassroots activists here in Pennsylvania. I appreciate your care
and your concern for our country.
Today, unfortunately, you draw -- you drew the short straw. Laura
is somewhere else. (Laughter.) She sends her best. (Applause.)
She's doing great, by the way. She is -- I'm really proud of her.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love Laura.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, so do I. (Laughter.) Thanks for saying
that. People now have figured out why I asked her to marry me. A lot
of people are wondering why she said, yes. (Laughter.) But she's a
great First Lady. I love her dearly. I'm proud of her. And I want to
thank you for -- (applause) -- I want to thank you for your concern for
her, too.
I'm concerned about making America a stronger and safer and better
place; that's what I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about making
sure that we meet some important goals. One of the most important
goals of all is to make sure every child in America gets a good
education. (Applause.) It's an incredibly important goal.
(Applause.) That's one of the priorities of Jim Gerlach. He
understands that's an important goal and priority if we want our
country to be hopeful and strong.
We passed good legislation. The legislation challenges what I call
the soft bigotry of low expectations. See, Jim understands this
philosophy. These members of Congress do as well, as does Arlen
Specter. He knows that, in order for us to have a hopeful society, we
must, as a society, set high standards. We've got to believe every
child can learn. It doesn't matter where they go to school, it doesn't
matter if their parents speak English as a first language. It matters
that we believe every child can learn. (Applause.)
We believe in local control of schools. See, we trust the people
in Pennsylvania more than we trust the folks in Washington, D.C. to
chart the path to excellence. (Applause.) We believe you ought to
work with your governors and your school boards to make sure that
children get the right curriculum and the right basic education in
order to succeed. That's why we believe you've got to trust parents
and teachers. We believe in promoting the basics when it comes to
subjects such as reading. That's what we believe.
But we also believe this: If every child can learn, therefore, we
want to know whether every child is learning, all across our country.
So, therefore, in return for the largest increase in federal
expenditures for education -- that was last year -- Pennsylvania
receives $1.7 billion from the federal government -- (applause) -- the
largest amount of dollars spent, we're now, for the first time, asking
the question, is the money being wisely spent? For the first time,
we're beginning to -- we're saying, show us whether or not the children
of any state, children who are in the districts that receive this
money, whether or not they can read and write and add and subtract. We
want to know, because we believe every child can learn. We believe
that every child in America has the potential, and we want to see
whether or not they're learning. (Applause.)
And if -- and if they are, if standards are being met, if your
vision that every child can learn is successful, we'll praise the
teachers. And for those of you who teach, thanks for taking on such a
noble cause and working in a noble profession. (Applause.) But as a
society, to make sure no child gets left behind, we must be willing to
challenge failure, to challenge the status quo. When we find children
in schools which won't teach and won't change, we must have the courage
as a society to demand something different for our children. No child
should be left behind in America. (Applause.)
I look forward to welcoming yet another ally in this vision from
the state of Pennsylvania, and that ally will be Jim Gerlach.
(Applause.)
I also know I will have an ally when it comes to dealing with your
money. You know, one of the interesting things, sometimes you hear in
the debate in Washington they're talking about the government's money.
Well, the government spent this money, the government spent that
money. No, no, it's not the government's money. It's the people's
money. (Applause.) Anytime somebody is looking for a job and can't
find work means we've got a problem. So long as there are people
trying to put bread on the table for their families and they can't find
work, we've got to do everything we can to increase the job base.
Therefore, it's important to send people to Congress who understand
jobs, understand the role of government is not to create wealth, but an
environment in which the small business can grow to be a big business,
in which the entrepreneurial flourish -- entrepreneurial spirit can
flourish in America. (Applause.)
When times are slow or when the economy is bumping along, one of
the ways to make sure that the job base is invigorated, is to let
people keep more of their own money. See, when you keep more of your
own money, you're likely to demand a good or a service. And when you
demand a good or a service in this marketplace, somebody is likely to
produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces the good or
a service, somebody is more likely to find work. The tax relief plan
came at exactly the right time for our country's economy. (Applause.)
Over the next 10 years, the tax relief plan means there will be $58
billion more in Pennsylvania citizen's pockets -- over 10 years.
That's your money. You get to decide what to do with the money. You
get to decide how to spend it. There will be $7 billion in child tax
credit savings. There will be $3 billion as the marriage penalty
begins to get reduced.
By the way, the marriage penalty is a bad tax. (Applause.) The
code ought to encourage marriage, not discourage marriage.
(Applause.) That's a savings of $68 billion more money in your pockets
if the tax cuts were permanent. But they're not permanent. Senate
rules have it that the tax cuts won't be permanent. That's why this is
an issue in this campaign. In order for small businesses to plan, in
order to make sure a horrible tax, the death tax -- I say horrible;
it's bad on small businesses, it's bad on farmers, it's bad on
ranchers. If you're worried about urban sprawl, you ought to be for
the permanent repeal of the death tax, so people aren't forced to sell
their properties because the federal government -- (Applause.)
For the good of our economy, for the good of job creation, for the
good of a stimulative package, we need to make sure the tax cuts are
permanent. (Applause.)
I mean, there's a lot of things we can work on together. We need
an energy bill which encourages conservation and renewables, but also
makes us less dependant on foreign sources of crude oil. We need a
terrorism insurance package that will get our hard-hats back to work.
No, there's a lot Congress can do to make sure that the jobs picture
improves for everybody, all across America. I look forward to working
with Jim in the United States Congress to make sure that people who
want to find work are able to do so, all across the country.
And as we work to make America a stronger place economically, we've
also got to work to make it a safer place. And I say that because so
long as we love freedom -- and we love freedom -- there's going to be
an enemy which hates America. (Applause.) It's hard to explain to
your youngsters why somebody would hate us. But you've just got to
tell them there are some who have hijacked a great religion. These
people don't value life like we do in America. See, we say every life
matters. Everybody's precious. Everybody counts. (Applause.)
That's not how our enemy thinks. They're nothing but a bunch of
cold-blooded killers. They hate freedom. They hate countries which
embrace freedom. And therefore, they hate us since we're the beacon
for freedom. We love our freedoms and we will not change. (Applause.)
Times have changed in America. Times have changed after September
the 11th. It used to be we thought oceans would protect us. A lot of
us growing up said, we don't have to really worry about some of the
conflicts overseas. We may be involved, we may not be involved,
because we're protected, we're isolated from the harsh realities of
some of the killings that were taking place on different continents, so
we could pick and choose. We don't have any choice in this new war,
see. We learned that the enemy has taken the battlefield to our very
own country. My most important job is to protect America. My most
important job is to do everything we possibly can to protect innocent
life from a group of killers.
That's why I've started and stimulated a discussion on Iraq. I
wanted the American people to know that there's a new reality which we
face, a reality that oceans no longer protect us. The reality that
this person in Iraq has killed his own people with weapons of mass
destruction, a reality that he has invaded countries. The reality that
he has stiffed the United Nations for 11 years. Sixteen different
resolutions have been passed calling on this man to disarm. Sixteen
times he's ignored world mandates. These are the realities we face and
we must deal with it.
I appreciate the members of the Senate, I appreciate the members of
the House of Representatives for voting overwhelmingly with one voice
this message, that Saddam Hussein must disarm, that the world --
(applause) -- for the sake of peace, for the sake of peace here at
home, for the sake of peace in the Middle East, for the sake of world
peace, Saddam Hussein must do what he promised.
For the sake of having an international body which is effective,
the United Nations must make the resolve, must be resolved to deal with
this person; must resolve itself to be something more than the League
of Nations; must resolve itself to be more than just a debating
society; must resolve itself to help keep international peace.
(Applause.)
It's an important time in our history to determine whether or not
we're going to be a nation which is willing to work with others to keep
the peace. The answer is, you bet. But if they won't, the United
Nations can't make its mind up, if Saddam Hussein won't disarm, we will
lead a coalition to disarm him for the sake of peace. (Applause.)
These are the new realities we face in America, the serious
realities that we must deal with for the sake of our children, for the
sake of our children's children. The new reality here at home is to do
everything we can to protect the American people from a possible
attack.
I want to thank you for training a good man named Tom Ridge, to be
the first Advisor on Homeland Security. (Applause.) He's doing a very
good job. I know you're proud of him, and so am I. Our friend has not
let us down. One of the things he advised me -- along with others in
my administration -- was that the best way to protect the American
people in the long run is to set up a department of homeland security.
Let me explain to you why. First of all, you've got to know that
there's a lot of good people working a lot of long hours to do
everything we can to disrupt, deny any enemy. If we get a hint that
somebody's thinking about doing something to us, moving, trying to do
something to us, we are moving. We're absolutely on alert. We're
doing everything we can to protect the American people. (Applause.)
I appreciate that the House of Representatives moved incredibly
quickly on a department of homeland security. They passed a really
good measure. It gives us a chance with the homeland security to take
over 100 agencies involved with defending the homeland and putting many
of their functions under one department, so that the number one
priority of these agencies, and/or the good people working in these
agencies, is your protection.
One way to make sure we focus the attention of a scattered group of
agencies is to have one agency, so that if need be, cultures can
change; if need be, there can be a direct focus. The Senate can't get
the job done -- they've yet to get the job done. I want to thank
Senator Specter's leadership on this issue. He's deeply concerned
about the protection of the homeland. He and I have had some quality
discussions on this issue.
But let me tell you what the problem is in the Senate, from my
perspective -- that the Senate has said, we will give you a department
of homeland security, but you've got to pay a price. And the price is,
is that we'll roll back an important authority that every President
since John F. Kennedy has had. And that authority says that I have the
ability to suspend certain labor rules for the sake of national
security. For the sake of security -- securing the country, we won't
have labor rules get in the way of the President being able to do
whatever it takes to protect America. (Applause.) We've got a border
which we must enforce. We need to know who's coming into America, what
they're bringing into America, and if they're leaving when they say
they're going to leave America. (Applause.) It's an important
function of the federal government.
Except there's three different agencies down there -- three
agencies full of really fine people. You've got your Customs, your INF
and your Border Patrol. Sometimes they have different strategies per
sector along the border. They're wearing different uniforms. They've
got different cultures. They all share in the responsibility of
protecting our border. For the sake of homeland security, this
administration and future administrations must have the ability to put
the right people at the right place at the right time to protect
America. (Applause.)
We asked Customs agents to wear a radiological detection device to
determine whether or not weapons of mass destruction were coming into
America. It makes sense to us. If you're worried about weapons of
mass destruction, wear one of these devices. The head of the working
group there said, no, we're not going to have this on a mandatory
basis. For the sake of national security, that work rule ought to be
suspended.
Now, they got it finally resolved. It took four months of
discussions to determine whether or not Customs agents ought to be
wearing a radiological detection device. Look, work rules are
important; the right to people to organize is very important. But for
the sake of national security, the Senate will not take away one of the
most precious authorities Presidents since John F. Kennedy has had.
(Applause.)
I know this: I wouldn't have to worry about Jim Gerlach's vote on
this issue. I know where he would stand. (Applause.) The best way to
secure America, however, is to hunt the enemy down, one person at a
time, and bring them to justice. The best way to protect America is to
find these killers where they try to hide and bring them to justice,
which exactly is what the United States of America is going to do.
(Applause.)
And we're making good progress. We're making good progress.
Sometimes it's hard to tell it, because this is not the kind of war
that we're used to. You used to -- could count territories seized or
tanks destroyed or airplanes knocked out of the sky, and say, gosh,
we're making progress. The fleet has been damaged; therefore, we're
making progress. These are killers who hide in caves and send
youngsters to their suicidal deaths. That's who we're trying to find.
They kind of ooch around the dark corners of the world and look out,
peep out around the corner; in the meantime, send these suicide
squads. It doesn't require a lot of equipment. It doesn't require a
lot of money, although we're doing everything we can to cut off their
money. But we're making progress.
One reason we're making progress is the doctrine that says, either
you're with us or you're with the enemy, it still stands. That
doctrine is firm. (Applause.) Our coalition partners understand the
stakes. This bombing in Indonesia reminded everybody how dangerous
these people can be. They don't care about innocent life; they could
care less. It doesn't bother them in the least that innocent citizens
lose their life. What bothers them, though, is that the United States
and our friends and allies are on the hunt. And we're going to stay on
the hunt. We're going to get them running and we're going to keep them
running until we bring them to justice. (Applause.)
Slowly but surely, we're finding them. Slowly but surely, we're
hunting them down, one person at a time. We've probably hauled in or
arrested, whatever you want to call it, a couple of thousand. Like
number weren't as lucky. The point is, is that when you combine it
all, we've made a fairly good size dent into the al Qaeda terrorist
network. The other day a guy named bin al-Shebh popped his head up.
He's no longer a problem for the United States of America. (Applause.)
It takes a while. It's going to take a while. It's just the
realities of the 21st century. The new kind of war is going to require
a patience and determination by this great nation. See, we remember.
We not only remember what took place, we also understand the stakes.
We understand our responsibilities. We understand our duty to not only
people who live in this country, but because every life matters, we
understand our duty elsewhere. And that is to defend freedom. Slowly
but surely, we're going to defend, and we're going to defeat this
enemy.
And it doesn't matter how long it takes, my fellow Americans. It
just doesn't matter, as far as I'm concerned. There is not a calendar
on my desk that says, well, such and such a date, it's time to haul
them home, it's time to quit. That's not how we think in America.
Tomorrow I'm going to sign a defense appropriations bill, one of the
largest increase -- the largest increase since Ronald Reagan was the
President, for two reasons -- two reasons. I want to share with you
why I asked for this increase.
I want to thank the Senate, I want to thank the House for passing
that bill. We're going to send two messages. 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.) That's the very least we
owe them and their loved ones. And for those of you who have got loved
ones in the military, our military has my complete confidence. There's
no finer group of men and women who wear the uniform than the uniform
of the United States of America. (Applause.)
And the second message we send, and the second message we send --
it doesn't matter how long it takes, this country is in for the long
haul; that we believe in freedom, that we understand obligations, that
we understand that some in the world may blink, but we're not
blinking. (Applause.) We know that history has called us into action
and we're going to do everything we can to defend America and to defend
the freedoms which we hold dear.
There's no question in my mind we're going to succeed. I want you
to know how I feel. I'm an optimist about the future. I'm an optimist
because I know this, that if we remain tough and if we're strong and we
continue to speak clearly about that which matters in life -- if we
hold dear the values of freedom, if we fight terror, we can achieve
peace. We can achieve peace not only for America -- (applause) -- we
can achieve peace in parts of the world where some have quit on peace.
We can achieve peace in the Middle East, can achieve peace in South
Asia.
No, the United States has got an opportunity to lead the world
toward peace. The enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were
hitting. They probably thought -- they probably thought we'd file a
lawsuit or two. (Laughter.) They don't understand America. They
don't understand our people; they don't understand our courage; they
don't understand our drive. They don't understand that we long for
peace, but we're tough enough to achieve the peace if we have to be.
That's what they don't know.
And what they didn't also understand is that here at home, the evil
done to us is going to lead to a better America, is going to lead to a
better America. (Applause.) Now, government can help -- government
can help have a better America. We have a good education system.
We're working hard to achieve that. We need to make sure our medical
systems are modern. Listen, medicine has changed; Medicare hadn't.
Medicine has evolved; Medicare is essentially stuck in the past. For
the sake of our seniors, for the sake of a better life, we need to
modernize Medicare and make sure there's a prescription drug benefit
for our seniors. (Applause.)
We need to make sure, as we rewrite the welfare laws, as Jim can
tell you, it's important to make sure that work is the cornerstone of
welfare policy. People find dignity in work, and therefor,e we can
make America a better life by helping people find work and be trained
for work and be qualified for work. (Applause.)
But government is limited in its capacity to make America a better
place. We can hand out money, but what government cannot do is put
hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. This
is done when a fellow American puts their arm around somebody in need,
and says, I love you. That's how that is done.
America is going to be a better country after the evil done to us,
because we understand that in order to change America, we can do so,
one person, one soul, one conscience at a time, by loving somebody just
like we'd like to be loved ourselves. Out of the evil done to America
is going to come incredible good, because this nation's strength lies
not in the halls of our government, but in the hearts and souls of the
American citizens. (Applause.)
A lot of good folks took a step back after that fateful day, and
said, what is my life all about? Moms and dads say, we're lucky enough
to be a mother or a dad, I'm going to remind my child every single day
I love them. A lot of good folks said, I want to help the community in
which I live be a better place.
No, the enemy hit us, but in so doing, they aroused an American
spirit that understands that being a patriot is somebody more than just
putting your hand over your heart. Being a patriot is serving a cause
greater than yourself. Being a patriot is helping those who hurt find
solace, those who are hungry find food, those who yearn for love find
love.
No, the enemy hit us, but they didn't know who they're hitting.
There's no question in my mind that we can achieve peace. There's no
question in my mind that we will be a better country, because this is
the finest country, full of the greatest people on the face of the
Earth.
Thank you for coming. May God bless, and may God bless America.
END 11:23 A.M. EDT
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