For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 10, 2004
President's Remarks at Victory 2004 Rally in Chillicothe, Ohio
Ross County Fairgrounds
Chillicothe, Ohio
4:40 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I'm honored to be here.
(Applause.) Old Bob Ney, he said, why don't you come over to the Ross
County Fairgrounds. Maybe a couple of people will come over and say,
hello. (Applause.) Thanks for having me. It's good to be here. I'm
here to ask for the vote, that's what I'm doing. (Applause.)
I've been traveling on that bus throughout your beautiful state
telling people I'd like their vote. And we're ending our bus trip
right here in Ross County, and it's a good place to stop. (Applause.)
This is where the people work hard, they value family, they like
hunting and fishing, and they love their country. (Applause.)
I'm traveling with my friend, Zell Miller. (Applause.) He -- what
Zell said is something I appreciate. He said, you can be a Democrat
and vote for George W. Bush. (Applause.) I understand there's a lot
of people here in this part of your state who call themselves
Democrats, and we welcome you here, and we welcome your vote.
(Applause.) I want to thank my friend, Zell Miller, for traveling with
me. He's a great American. He is a solid, solid citizen of this great
country. And I'm proud to call him, friend.
Not only am I here to ask for your vote, I'm here to ask for your
help. I'd like for you to go out and register your friends and
neighbors. Remind them they have a duty to do in this democracy of
ours to participate in the process. (Applause.) So go to your coffee
shops and your community centers and register people. Register our
Republican friends, the independents, and discerning Democrats. Not
only register them, I'm here to ask you, then, to get them to go to the
polls voting time. And when you head them to the polls, remind them if
they want a safer America, a stronger America, a better America, to put
me and Dick Cheney back in office. (Applause.)
I am sorry Laura is not here today.
AUDIENCE: Awww --
THE PRESIDENT: Most people usually do groan. (Laughter.) So when
I asked her to marry me, I said, will you? And she said, fine --
(laughter) -- just so long as I don't have to give any political
speeches. (Laughter.) I said, okay, you don't have to give any
political speeches. Fortunately, she didn't hold me to my word.
(Laughter.) See, last week in New York, people got to see Laura. They
got to see her calm, steady, compassionate self. (Applause.) I love
her dearly. And perhaps the most important reason to put me back in to
office is so she'll be First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)
I appreciate my running mate, Dick Cheney. I'm proud to be running
with him. (Applause.) Admittedly, he doesn't have the waviest hair in
the race. (Laughter.) I didn't pick him for his hair. (Laughter.) I
picked him because he's a man of sound judgment, strong experience, and
he can get the job done for the American people. (Applause.)
I appreciate Congressman Bob Ney. (Applause.) Straight shooter,
good friend, and a fine member of the United States Congress.
(Applause.) I'm proud your Governor is here. Mr. Governor, thank you
for coming. I appreciate my friend, Bob Taft, joining us today.
(Applause.) I'm going to thank my friend, Rob Portman, Congressman
from the Cincinnati area, Congressman from the district right next
door. Great American. Thank you for coming, Robbie. I appreciate
it. (Applause.) I'm proud Mike DeWine is with us today. Mike is a
fine United States Senator. (Applause.)
I want to thank -- oh, by the way, speaking about senators, put
Voinovich back in there. (Applause.) He's running, too. He's a great
United States Senator. He's serving these people -- the people of this
state with class and dignity, and I'm proud to call him, friend. I
know you're proud to call him, Senator. (Applause.)
And I want to thank Attorney General Jim Petro for being here.
Senator Doug White. I want to thank all the senators and House members
who are here. I want to thank the local officials who've come. Thank
you for serving. I appreciate my friend, Anthony Munoz, who's with us
today. You might remember Anthony. (Applause.) He's nothing but an
NFL Hall of Famer. He's a Hall of Famer in my book, too, because he's
trying to help us get reelected here in the state of Ohio.
(Applause.) I want to thank John Stone, the country music artist who
was here today. I appreciate, John. (Applause.)
We've had a great trip. I had the honor of visiting on the bus
with some employees from Piketon. I appreciate those workers for being
with me today. I reminded them, in the year 2000, I wrote the Governor
a letter. I said, if I'm President, I'm going to save that plant.
(Applause.) Promise made, promise kept. (Applause.)
Appreciate the grassroots activists who are here. Those are the
people who put up all the signs we saw coming in today, people who will
man phones when it comes time to get people to vote, people who are
going to talk it up when it comes time to talk it up. Thank you for
what you have done, and thank you for what you're going to do. With
your help, we will carry Ohio again. (Applause.) With your help, we
will be able to serve this great country for four more years.
(Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: I'm looking forward to this campaign. I like
getting out with the people. I like to tell people where I stand, what
I believe, and where I'm going to lead this nation.
I believe every child can learn, and we expect every school to
teach. (Applause.) I went to Washington to challenge the soft bigotry
of low expectations. I believe every child can learn. We've raised
the standards. We're measuring early so we can solve problems now
before it's too late. (Applause.) We trust the local people to make
the right decisions for the schools. We're making progress here in
America. We're closing the achievement gap, and we're not turning
back. (Applause.)
I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with
good health care. (Applause.) You might remember the endless debates
on Medicare. As a matter of fact, they used to call it, "Mediscare."
I went to Washington to fix problems. We had a problem in Medicare.
People say, what do you mean? Well, I'll tell you what I mean.
Medicare would pay $100,000 for heart surgery, but it wouldn't pay for
the medicines to prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the
first place. That wasn't right for the seniors, it was lousy for the
taxpayers. Beginning in 2006, our seniors will get prescription drug
coverage, they'll get a modern system, and we're not turning back.
(Applause.)
I believe in the energy, innovation, and spirit of America's
workers, small business owners and farmers. And that is why we
unleashed that energy with the largest tax cut in a generation.
(Applause.) When you're out there rounding up the vote, remind people
we've been through a lot. This economy has been through a lot. You
know, months before we got there, the stock market started to decline.
Right after we got there, they declared a recession. Then we had
corporate scandals. By the way, it is now clear in America, we will
not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. (Applause.) And
then we got attacked. Some people estimate that attack cost us a
million jobs in the three months after the attack.
But we've overcome those obstacles. We've overcome them because
we've got great people here in America. I believe we've overcome them
because our economic stimulus plan is working. See, this economy is
strong, it is getting stronger. We've been growing at rates as fast as
any in nearly 20 years. We've added 1.7 million new jobs since August
of '03. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, lower than the
average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. (Applause.)
I fully understand there are parts of your great state which are
lagging behind the national recovery. But that doesn't mean we ought
to go to lousy policies. That means we ought to continue the
pro-growth policies that we put in place. We ought to continue to grow
this economy so people can find work. (Applause.)
I believe a President must confront problems, not pass them on to
future generations or future Presidents. I believe the most solemn
duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
(Applause.) If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade,
the world will drift toward tragedy. This isn't going to happen on my
watch. (Applause.)
I'm running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a
safer world and a more hopeful America. I'm running with a
compassionate conservative philosophy that government should help
people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. (Applause.) I
believe this nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership,
and that is why, with your help, we'll win a great nationwide victory
in November. (Applause.)
I fully understand the world in which we live in is changing. See,
our dads and grandads generally had one job, one career, worked for one
company, and provided health and pension plans. The world we live in
is different from that. Most people have more than one career, they
change jobs several times. The most significant change in our
workplace is that a lot of women work in the home and out of the home
now. And yet the fundamental systems haven't changed. See, these are
systems designed for yesterday, not tomorrow -- the tax code, health
coverage and pension plans and worker training.
In a new term we will transform these systems so all citizens are
equipped, prepared, and thus, truly free to make your own choices, to
be able to pursue your own dreams. (Applause.)
Any hopeful society is one in which this economy is moving
forward. To create more jobs in America, America must be the best
place in the world to do business. (Applause.) To create more jobs
here, we need to reduce the regulations that burden our employers.
(Applause.) To create new jobs here, we've got to do something about
these frivolous lawsuits that make it hard for small businesses to
expand. (Applause.) To create jobs here, we need a sound energy
policy.
Listen, two years ago I submitted a plan to the United States
Congress, and it got stuck, for political reasons. It needs to get
unstuck. If we want jobs here, we need a plan that encourages
conservation, encourages the use of renewables like ethanol and
biodiesel, modernizes the electricity grid, uses coal -- clean coal
technology -- (applause) -- a plan that makes us less dependent on
foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
If we want to keep jobs here, we got to open up markets around the
world for U.S. products. See, we open up the markets for foreign
goods, and that's good for you. If you've got more choices, it's going
to mean you'll get what you want at a better price and a better
quality. So my message to places like China is, you treat us the way
we treat you. (Applause.) That's why I'm enforcing these laws.
Rather than fallen prey to the language of economic isolationism, what
I'm saying is, you open up your markets, because we can compete with
anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair. (Applause.)
Listen, to create jobs, we've got to be wise about how we spend
your money in Washington, and we got to keep your taxes low. Tax is an
issue in this campaign. See, the fellow I'm running against has so far
proposed over $2 trillion in new federal spending.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: And we still got October to go. (Laughter.) And a
lot of September. So I asked him, I said, well, how are you going to
pay for it. He said, oh, you know, I'm just going to tax the rich.
Two problems with that. One is that, his plan to tax the rich raises
about $650 billion. If you propose $2.2 trillion, and your plan raises
$650 billion, you're a little short. (Laughter.) You know what that
means, don't you, when they get that shortfall between the promise and
the plan? You're going to get stuck.
The other problem with that plan of taxing the rich is, we've heard
that rhetoric before out of Washington. See, that's why they hire
accountants and lawyers, so you get stuck with the bill. We're not
going to let him tax you because we're going to win in November.
(Applause.)
We need to do something about the tax code, as well. This tax code
of ours is too complicated. It is full of special interest loopholes.
It takes the American people about 6 billion hours a year to fill out
their taxes. That is too much time. In a new term I'm going to call
Republicans and Democrats together and make this tax code more simple
and more fair, for the sake of economic growth and for the sake of
fairness to the taxpayer. (Applause.)
In a changing world, jobs change. And I know that and you know
that. In order to help people when jobs change, we got to make sure
our community colleges are more accessible for American workers. We
want people to be able to train for the skills that are needed to fill
the jobs of the 21st century. Same things comes to our high school
students. Most new jobs today are filled by people with two years of
college; yet one in four of our students gets there. That's why we
will fund early intervention programs to help at-risk students in high
school. We'll place a new focus on math and science so the kids have
got the skills necessary to fill the new jobs. Over time, we'll
require a rigorous exam before graduation. By raising performance in
high schools, and by expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-income
families, we'll help more Americans start their career with a college
diploma. (Applause.)
We got to do more to make sure health care is available and
affordable. More than half of the uninsured are employees of small
businesses. See, small businesses are having trouble affording health
care. One way to help small businesses afford health care and to take
care of American families is to allow them to join together to purchase
insurance at the discounts available to big companies. (Applause.)
Another way to help small businesses and the workers is to expand
health savings accounts. We'll expand community health centers in
every poor county in America, to help people get preventative care and
primary care.
To make sure health care is available and affordable, we got to do
something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running good docs out
of practice and running your costs up. (Applause.) See, you cannot be
pro-doctor, pro-hospital, pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer at the same
time. You have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he put him
on the ticket. (Applause.) I made my choice. I'm for medical
liability reform now. (Applause.) In all we do to improve health
care, we'll make sure the health care decisions are made by patients
and doctors, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)
In changing times, stability can be brought to people's life if
they own something. I believe in promoting an ownership society in
America. One of the most hopeful statistics of the last couple of
years is that under my administration, home ownership rates are at an
all-time high. More and more people are owning their own home. We've
got a plan over the next years to promote more ownership. We want
people opening up the front door, saying, welcome to my home, welcome
to my piece of property. (Applause.)
I see a lot of younger workers here. I want to thank you all for
coming. I want to talk to you right quick about pension plans, Social
Security. If you're an older worker, Social Security will take care of
you. I don't care what they say in the campaign. You've heard it
every four years -- "they're going to take away your Social Security
check." That's old, stale, tired, Washington, D.C. talk. You're going
to be just fine. Baby boomers like me are going to be just fine when
it comes to Social Security. We need to worry about our children and
our grandchildren. And so, therefore, I believe younger workers ought
to be able to take some of their own money and set up a personal
account to help them with Social Security, a personal account they can
call their own, a personal account government cannot take away.
(Applause.)
We have a difference of philosophy in this campaign. If you listen
carefully to the rhetoric of my opponent, they all aim to expand
government. This campaign intends to expand opportunity because we
trust the American people. (Applause.)
In a world of change, there are some things that do not change, the
values we live by: courage and compassion, reverence and integrity.
In a time of change, we'll support the institutions that matter, that
bring us stability -- our families, our schools, our religious
congregations. We stand for a culture of life in which every person
counts and every being matters. (Applause.) We stand for marriage and
family, which are the foundations of our society. (Applause.) We
stand for the Second Amendment, which gives every American the
individual right to bear arms. (Applause.) I stand for the
appointment of federal judges who know the difference between personal
opinion and the strict interpretation of the law. (Applause.)
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of
September the 11th, 2001, we fought the terrorists across the Earth --
not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are
at stake. (Applause.) Our strategy is clear: We're defending the
homeland; we're transforming our military; we're strengthening our
intelligence services. We will stay on the offensive. We will chase
the terrorists around the world so we do not have to face them here at
home. (Applause.) We will work to advance liberty in the broader
Middle East and elsewhere, and we will prevail. (Applause.)
Our strategy is succeeding. Four years ago, Afghanistan was the
home base of al Qaeda; Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist
groups; Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising;
Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering
threat; al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks.
Because we led, the government of a free Afghanistan is fighting
terror; Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making
raids and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; the army
of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of
al Qaeda's key members and associates have been brought to justice.
(Applause.) We have led, many have joined, and America and the world
are safer. (Applause.)
This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and
some tough decisions. The toughest came on Iraq. We knew Saddam
Hussein's record of aggression and support for terror. We knew his
long history of pursuing and using weapons of mass destruction. We
knew that after September the 11th we must think differently; we must
take threats seriously before they fully materialize. (Applause.)
In Saddam Hussein we saw a threat. I went to the United States
Congress. I said, we see a threat. They looked at the same
intelligence, remembered the same history that we remembered, and
concluded Saddam Hussein was a threat, and they authorized the use of
force. My opponent looked at the very same intelligence I looked at,
and he concluded Saddam Hussein was a threat and voted yes when it came
to the authorization of force.
Before the Commander-in-Chief puts troops in harm's way we must try
every avenue to solve the problem. I was hoping diplomacy would work.
I went to the United Nations. I said, we see a threat. They looked at
the same intelligence, they remembered the same history, they concluded
Saddam Hussein was a threat. They passed a U.N. Security Council
resolution, 15 to nothing, that said, Saddam Hussein, disclose, disarm,
or face serious consequences. The world spoke. But as he had for
resolution after resolution after resolution, Saddam Hussein ignored
the demands of the free world. As a matter of fact, when the U.N. sent
inspectors in, he systematically deceived them.
So I'm now confronted with a choice. The choice was whether to
take the word of a madman, to forget the lessons of September the 11th,
or take action to defend this country. Given that choice, I will
defend America every time. (Applause.)
Because we acted to defend our country, 50 million people in
Afghanistan and Iraq now live in freedom. (Applause.) And the world
is better off. It wasn't all that long ago that young girls didn't get
to go to school in Afghanistan because of the backward ways of the
Taliban. It wasn't all that long ago that their mothers were pulled
out in the public square and whipped because they wouldn't toe the line
to their dismal ideology of hatred. But think about this. Today, 10
million people, 40 percent women, have registered to vote in the
upcoming presidential election. (Applause.) It's amazing. Freedom is
so powerful. People long to be free.
In Iraq, despite ongoing violence, there's a strong Prime Minister,
a national council, and national elections are scheduled for January.
We'll stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. It's in our
interests we stand with them. As well, when America gives its word,
America must keep its word. (Applause.) I say it's in our interests
-- I believe it is because freedom societies in the Middle East will be
hopeful societies which no longer feed resentments and breed export --
breed violence for export. Freedom governments in the Middle East will
fight terrorists instead of harboring them. And that will make us
safer in the long run.
Our strategy is clear in those countries -- we will help new
leaders train their armies so they can do the hard work of defending
themselves. (Applause.) We'll help them move toward elections. We'll
get them on the path of stability and democracy as quickly as possible,
and then our troops will return home with the honor they have earned.
(Applause.)
We got a great United States military. (Applause.) I want to
thank the veterans who have joined us today for setting such a great
example for those who wear today's uniform. (Applause.) I've seen the
unselfish courage of our troops. I know their decency. The cause of
freedom is in really good hands.
I made a pledge to the -- those who wear the uniform and their
loved ones that the federal government will give them all the support
they need to do their jobs. That's why, a year ago, I went to the
United States Congress and proposed supplemental funding for $87
billion. It was a important piece of legislation, really important.
It provided funding for body armor and spare parts, ammunition, fuel,
supplies, necessary money for troops in harm's way in both Iraq and
Afghanistan.
We received great bipartisan support in the halls of Congress. The
support was so strong that only 12 members of the United States Senate
voted against the vital funding -- two of whom are my opponent and his
running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: No, I know. In fact, only four United States
senators voted to authorize the use of force, and then voted against
funding our troops. And two of those are my opponent and his running
mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You might remember when he said, when they asked my
opponent why, and he said, well, of course, I did vote for the $87
billion right before I voted against it. Not exactly the way they talk
here in Ross County. (Laughter.) He went on to say, well -- say he
was proud of the vote. And finally, he just said, it's a complicated
matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in
combat. (Applause.)
See, I think a Commander-in-Chief must be clear and steady. When
it comes to Iraq, my opponent has more different positions than all his
colleagues in the Senate combined. (Laughter.) Senator Kerry once
said, "It would naive to the point of grave danger not to believe that
if left to his own devices, Saddam Hussein will provoke, misjudge, or
stumble into a future of more dangerous confrontation with the
civilized world." End quote. That's what he said.
In 2002, he voted for the war, but then voted against the funding
for body armor and combat pay and other needed -- needed measures.
When the heat got on him in the Democrat primary, he declared himself
the anti-war candidate. Then several months later, he said he would
still have voted to go to war even knowing everything we know today.
Earlier this week, he adopted the language of his one-time rival,
Howard Dean, saying, it's the wrong war at the right time -- even
though he earlier said it was the right decision and he supported it.
The newest wrinkle -- the newest wrinkle is that Senator Kerry has
now decided we're spending too much money in Iraq, even though he
earlier criticized us for not spending enough. One thing about Senator
Kerry's position is clear: If he had his way, Saddam Hussein would
still be in power, and would still be a threat to the security of
America and the world.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank our friends and allies for the
contributions they've made to making this world a more peaceful place.
(Applause.) There are nearly 40 nations involved in Afghanistan, some
30 nations involved in Iraq. The next four years, we'll continue to
work with our allies and friends, but I will never turn over America's
national security decisions to leaders of other countries. (Applause.)
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. The wisest use
of American strength is to advance freedom. I tell people about the
fact that I've got great relations with the Prime Minister of Japan.
We have consultations, we talk about important matters. What's
interesting about those consultations is it wasn't all that long ago in
the march of history that Japan was a sworn enemy. My dad fought
against the Japanese, your dads and grandads, husbands fought against
the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy.
After we won in World War II, my predecessor, Harry Truman, and
many Americans believed that if Japan would become a free society, the
world would be better off. A lot of people were skeptical about that
in America at that time. You can understand why. They were the
enemy. But they had -- my predecessor had great faith that liberty
could transform an enemy into a friend. Because we helped Japan become
a democracy, today, I sit at the table with the head of a former enemy
talking about the peace, talking about how to see the Korean Peninsula
is more peaceful, talking about Iraq and how to keep the peace there,
we're talking about feeding the hungry and helping people with
disease. We're sitting down as allies and friends talking about a
better world.
Someday, a free Iraq is going to elect a leader, and an American
President is going to be sitting down with him or her, and they'll be
talking about the peace. The world will be better off with a free
Iraq. America will be more secure with a free Iraq. (Applause.) A
free Iraq will send such a clear signal to people throughout the Middle
East that freedom and liberty are possible.
I believe -- I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in
silence for their liberty. I believe that given the chance, they will
embrace the most honorable form of government every devised by man. I
believe this, because freedom is not America's gift to the world.
Freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this
world. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: This young century -- this young century will be
liberty's century. By promoting freedom at home and freedom abroad, we
will build a safer world and a more hopeful America. By reforming our
systems of government, we'll help more Americans realize their dreams.
We'll spread ownership and opportunity to every corner of the land.
We'll pass the enduring values of our country to a new generation. We
will continue to work to make this world more free, and therefore, more
peaceful.
For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
apart. You know, there are quiet times in the life of a nation when
little is expected of its leaders. This isn't one fo those times.
This is a time when we need firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep
faith in the values that make us a great nation. (Applause.)
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and
another began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of
the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget. It's a day that
workers in hard hats were there yelling at me at the top of their
lungs, "Whatever it takes." I was trying my best to thank the workers,
people who had been in the rubble. A guy grabbed me by the arm. He
said, "Do not let me down." Ever since that day, I wake up every
morning trying to better protect this country. I will never relent in
defending America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)
Four years ago -- four years ago, I traveled your great state
asking for the vote. I made a pledge that if you gave me a chance to
serve, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to which
I had been elected. With your help, with your hard work, I will do so
for four more years.
God bless. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 5:18 P.M. EDT
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