9/26/2002 George W.
Bush John Cornyn
for Senate Reception Hyatt
Regency, Houston, Texas http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020926-17.html
THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you all. I am here because there's no doubt in my mind that
John Cornyn needs to be the next United States senator from Texas. (Applause.)
And I want to thank you all for -- thank you all for coming to help him get
there. It's important for Texas that he be elected. It's important for America
that he be elected. He's the best man with whom I can work. He's a man who can
help us get some things done to make America a safer and stronger and better
place for all of us. It's
an honor to be back home. AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Welcome home. THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) I might have changed addresses, but I haven't
changed homes. (Laughter.) And I'm so grateful you all came out. Actually, as
we get closer to the election I'm not only working on ways to strengthen the
economy, also working on ways to keep our country peaceful, I'm getting on the
road. And it's nice to be in a state where I can actually vote for the
candidate I'm campaigning for. (Applause.) I
appreciate John a lot. I appreciate his willingness to run for federal office.
I appreciate his willingness to serve in Washington, D.C., to take his great
family -- to take Sandy and his two daughters to live in our Nation's Capital.
It's a sacrifice to leave Texas. (Laughter.) But it's important that he win.
And I'm so proud of John. I'm proud of his character, proud of his dignity. I
really appreciate Sandy. She's a fabulous wife and a great -- will be a great
senator's wife. As she stands strong by John's side, I'd like to remind people
that both he and I married above ourselves. (Laughter.) Speaking about the
First Lady, she is -- she's in Mexico today, representing our country.
(Applause.) We will meet in Crawford tomorrow night -- Crawford, Texas, that
is. (Laughter.) She is a remarkable person. She's -- I know there's some
Midlanders here -- she was born and raised in Midland. She was a public school
librarian when I met her. The truth of the matter was -- is that she wasn't
that interested in politics. (Laughter.) Or politicians. (Laughter.) And now
she's stuck with the President of the United States. And she's doing a fabulous
job as the First Lady. (Applause.) I
want to appreciate all the grassroot activists who are here. Of course, I know
many of you because I asked for your help in '94 and '98. And another guy named
Bush has been asking for your help a lot longer before that, and many of you
provided it. And I want to thank you all for what you're going to do on behalf
of John, and Rick Perry and the rest of the candidates running, and that is to
turn out the vote. It's
essential that you continue to man the phones and put up the signs and energize
the precincts like I know you can do here in Harris County and in other
counties. I know we've got some folks from Jefferson County here and Midland County.
I know there's some folks from Travis County. I
really urge you to continue to energize the people. This is an important
election, and so when you go to your churches or your synagogues or your
community centers, talk it up. Remind people they have a duty to go to the
polls. And as you get them going to the polls, remind them that the best man
running for the United States Senate is John Cornyn. (Applause.) We
will face some challenges together in Washington. Of course, one of the biggest
challenges is to make sure that our people can find work. My attitude is, any
time somebody who wants to work can't find a job, is we've got a problem in
America. And so we've got to always think about how to grow our economy. What
can we do to create -- to encourage the private sector to create more jobs? See,
John and I understand the role of government is not to create wealth, but an
environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, or the small business can
grow to be a big business. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created
by small business owners. And we've got to always encourage the entrepreneurial
spirit. I
started doing that when I first got up to Washington by cutting the taxes on
the people that work. We took a page out of this textbook; it says that if
you've got an economic slowdown, and you let people keep more of their own
money, they're going to demand a good or a service. With more money in their
pocket, they're more likely to demand something additional. And when they do,
somebody is going to produce the good and service. And when somebody produces
the good or service, somebody is more likely to find work. (Applause.) The
tax cuts came at exactly the right time. They were important. But the problem
is that because of Senate rules, they go away. Now, that's a tough one to
explain when you get outside of Washington, I readily concede. On the one hand,
we giveth; on the other hand, we taketh away. (Laughter.) That's Washington. I
need somebody in the Senate who understands the importance of tax cuts. I need
somebody in the Senate who understands we need to repeal the death tax for the
sake of our farmers and ranchers and small business owners. (Applause.) And
that somebody is John Cornyn. Make no mistake about it, the candidate in this race
who will support making the tax cuts permanent is John Cornyn. And that's
important for economic vitality and economic growth. I
want somebody up there with whom I can work to get an energy bill. We need an
energy plan for America. We need a plan that not only gets people back to work,
but a plan that lessens our dependence upon foreign sources of crude oil.
(Applause.) We import easily over half of our energy, of our crude oil. And
unfortunately, sometimes we get it from places that don't care for us. (Laughter.)
And so, for the sake of national security, and for the sake of job security, we
need an energy bill. And I want a senator with whom I can work to get a good
energy bill, on behalf of Texas and on behalf of America. And that man is John
Cornyn. (Applause.) A
stronger America is an America that constantly works to increase the job base.
We need a terrorism insurance bill in Washington, D.C. There's a lot of
hard-hats, good, hardworking people who aren't working because big projects
can't get going because they can't get insurance. The
enemy hurt us when they hit us. They hurt our economy. And one of the ways they
hurt us is we can't insure big projects. And the Congress ought to step in;
it's a useful role for the Congress. But we need an insurance bill, a terrorism
insurance bill that rewards the hard-hats, and not the trial lawyers. We need a
good terrorism insurance bill. (Applause.) And
I can assure you -- I can assure you, I know this man's record, I can assure
you John Cornyn cares more about hardworking people, he cares more about the
hard-hats than the trial lawyers in America. (Applause.) We
need people up there who understand that if Congress over-spends it will serve
as an anchor to economic vitality and growth. It's dangerous up in Washington
when it comes to your money. Every idea is a good idea. Every idea they float
up there sounds like a good idea. The problem is, in Washington the price tags
run into the billions. They don't have a budget out of the United States
Senate. You can imagine what will happen without a budget if there's no fiscal
discipline, if I don't enforce the fiscal discipline and if others in the
Senate aren't willing to stand up and enforce fiscal discipline. They
can't get a budget. The House has got a budget, but the Senate was unable to
get a budget in the expenditure of your money, which creates a problem. I need
to have United States senators who are willing to work with us to fund
priorities, but to not over-spend. Senators who understand the money we spend up
there is not the government's money, the money we spend in Washington is the
people's money. And that senator is John Cornyn. (Applause.) A
stronger America is one which constantly works to expand the job base so people
can find work. And I will continue to do that. A stronger America is also one
that's got a good bench, a good federal bench. There was an interesting moment
in this campaign. I nominated a fabulous woman, first-rate woman named Pricilla
Owen. (Applause.) Top law student out of Baylor, been elected statewide in
Texas a couple of times, overwhelmingly once. Had the highest ranking of the
ABA, the best rating you could possibly get. I knew she'd be a great judge.
Good, solid Texas woman, somebody -- it would be good to have that attitude and
her point of view on the bench. So
I sent her nomination up there. It became political. They distorted her record.
They didn't give her a fair chance. Shamefully, the Senate turned down her
nomination. In so doing, that was not only bad for Texas, it was bad for
America, as far as I'm concerned. It's
important for the voters of this state to listen to what was said by the two
candidates running for the United States Senate about Pricilla Owen. There's
only one candidate in this race that stood up strongly with me and strongly
supported the ratification of her nomination, and that candidate was John
Cornyn. (Applause.) We
also have got to work to make America a safer place. I say that because there
is an enemy which still hates America, lurking. It is an enemy which is
different from other kinds of enemies we have taken on. This enemy -- you can't
measure the enemy's strength based upon the number of tanks he has or the
number of aircraft or the number of ship. This is an enemy that hides in dark
corners of cities around the world; this is an enemy which hides in caves and
sends youngsters to their suicidal death. That's the kind of people we fight. They
hate us because we love things. We love freedom, for starters. We love the fact
that we can worship freely in America. We love that, and we're never going to
relinquish that freedom. (Applause.) We love the fact that we can have honest
political discourse, there can be debate, that people can choose who they want
to be the United States senator. We love a free press in America. We love
freedom. They hate freedom. So long as we love freedom, they hate us, and they
want to hurt us. That's just the facts of life, as we head into the 21st
century. The
other thing that distinguishes -- there's a lot of things that distinguishes,
but one of the things clearly that distinguishes us, in America we value each
life; life matters; everybody counts, everybody has got worth. That's not the
way they think. They have hijacked a great religion and they murder innocent
lives in the name of a great religion. And
so we've got to be aware of the facts and reality. I certainly am. My number
one job, and the number one job of future senators and future Congresses is to
protect the American people, to guard the homeland, to do everything we can to
make sure that you're safe. And
we're making progress. I mean, we're talking better now in Washington, D.C.,
the FBI and the CIA share information. Any time we get a lead, a hint, we're
moving on it. We're awake to the realities of the 21st century. No longer are
we protected by two vast oceans. And there's a lot of good people at the state
level and the local level, great firefighters and policemen and EMS teams all
prepared, and wonderful people at the federal government -- at the level of the
federal government that are working hard to fulfill our number one priority,
which is to protect you. So
I went to Congress, and I asked them -- I said, look, if the number one
priority is the defense of our homeland, let's have an organization so that the
number one priority becomes reality to the different -- hundreds of agencies
involved with the protection of America. Let's organize in a way -- listen, I
didn't run for office, I concede, and say, vote for George, I'm going to make
the government bigger. (Laughter.) That's not my intention. I wanted to work on
your behalf. And
so I sent up a bill, or an idea. And the House passed a good bill. The Senate
is struggling over it right now. The Senate is struggling over it because they
want to try to micromanage the process. They want to tell the administrative --
the executive branch, this President and future Presidents, who can hire, who
can fire, where to move them. See, that's what they want. They want there to be
a lot of rules and regulations. And I'm not going to accept that. Let
me give you some examples. To get an emergency phone number from Customs
employees -- in other words, it makes sense, if you've got a problem, you want
an emergency phone number -- union leaders call that an invasion of privacy.
See, that's not right. That's a work rule that doesn't make any sense in the
new era. It might have made sense before we became subject to enemy attack, but
it doesn't make any sense. Port
inspectors refuse to carry radiation detectors. If you're worried about trying
to find a potential weapon of mass destruction, you ought to strap on one of
those radiation detectors to figure out whether they've got one. This is not a
harmful device. The leaders of that group say they've got to be voluntary, you
can't make a person carry a -- one of those detectors. That doesn't make any
sense. This is true, what I'm telling you. (Laughter.) Customs
inspectors cannot be assigned to sensitive jobs unless they're most senior --
in other words, that you can only assign people based upon seniority, not based
upon talent. That doesn't make any sense. You see, the enemy doesn't care about
these rules. The Senate does, and it bothers me. (Laughter and applause.) Don't
get me wrong, there's fine senators from both parties who care deeply about our
country. Senators from both parties are struggling with this issue. But it is
essential for the sake of protecting America that we not allow special
interests to drive the process. It is essential to give this President and future
Presidents the ability to move people to the right place at the right time to
protect America. (Applause.) I
don't think I'd have any problem convincing John of the need to give the
President flexibility. As a matter of fact, I know he'd be a strong ally. The
best way to protect our homeland, however, is to hunt the killers down, one
person at a time, and bring them to justice. That's the best way to protect the
homeland. (Applause.) It's
important for you to know the doctrine I laid out still stands: you're either
with us, or you're with the enemy. That's clear. I will continue to make that
clear. (Applause.) Our coalition is strong. We're still getting a lot of cooperation.
Remember, this is a different kind of war. It requires sharing of intelligence
and cutting off money and communicating closely and hunting these people down.
I mean, they hide in Karachi. We got the other guy the other day who thought he
was going to be -- wanted to be the 20th hijacker. He popped his head up, and
now he's in detention. (Laughter.) He's no longer a threat to America and our
friends and allies. He's no longer around. (Applause.) It's
not a very glamorous war from the sense that the cables and all the air time
can cover, but it's happening. We've detained over a couple of thousand people
-- I want to say over 2,500 are no -- are off the streets, thanks to the United
States and our friends and allies. I mean, we are hunting them down. And about
equal that number weren't as lucky. They're not around at all. Because we've
got a fabulous military, by the way. We've got some brave soldiers who are --
(applause.) I
submitted a significant increase in defense spending, the largest since Ronald
Reagan was the President, because I wanted to send two messages -- one, any time
this nation sends our troops into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the
best training, and the best possible equipment. We owe it to the troops and we
owe it to their loved ones, as well. (Applause.) I
also wanted to send a clear message to friend and foe alike that the United
States of America is in this deal for the long haul. That when it comes to the
defense of our freedom, when it comes to making sure our children can live in a
free and civilized society, when it comes to defending that which we hold true,
we're not quitting. We're not quitting. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It
doesn't matter how long it takes to find the enemy, the United States will stay
with it. We're a determined nation; we're a strong nation; we're a nation that
loves freedom. And
that defense budget sent that signal. The problem is it hadn't made it to my
desk yet. (Laughter.) See, the House passed it, and the Senate passed it. And
it hadn't gotten resolved in the conference committee. It's very important,
before the Senate and the House go home, that they give me a defense bill. It's
a defense bill that is necessary. It sends a important signal; it shows that
we're resolved and serious. They ought to stop playing politics with the
defense appropriations bill, and get it to my desk. (Applause.) No,
we'll stay with it. I also want to remind you that that doctrine that says, if you
harbor a terrorist, if you feed one of them, you're just as guilty as the
killers. And I want you also to remind your youngsters about what this nation
did in Afghanistan. Not only did we do what we said we were going to do, which
is, I think, important in life, but we sent our troops in not to conquer
anybody, but to liberate people. We freed a country from the clutches --
(applause) --
we freed the country from the clutches of barbaric tyrants. It's unbelievable
how backward and brutal these were, particularly to women. I
had the honor of hosting in the Roosevelt Room, I believe it was 16 Afghan
women who had flown over. And one of the things we promised the government we
would do is we would host training sessions for women to give them a chance to
get -- be a part of the government. That's what we want. That's how we --
that's what we think is important in life. We believe everybody matters,
everybody has got worth in America. And it was a touching moment to listen to
the women and talk to the women, and to realize that -- and it was a proud
moment to realize that our country had a part of freeing them, of giving them a
chance to realize their worth and their potential. You
see, we love peace and we love freedom. We don't say to people in Afghanistan,
you must have our form of government, you know, the way America does it you've
got to do it. But what we do say is, we want to free you. We want to give you a
chance. And so we're going to stay in Afghanistan. We're going to stay in
Afghanistan to hunt down the killers -- they still lurk around. They
occasionally come in, and we'll find them. They kind of bunch up somewhere and
they're just -- they think they're allusive and they think they're clever, but
they've got the mighty United States on them. And we're going to stay on them. And
we've also got some other tasks ahead of us, as well. I went to the United
Nations the other day to make a case about -- (applause) -- to make a case
about a true threat to freedom. A true threat to the United States. A threat to
Israel; a threat to peace in the region. And that is Iraq. I made the decision
to go to the United Nations because I want the United Nations to be effective.
You see, in order to fight the new wars of the 21st century, we need to be able
to have collaborative efforts to share intelligence, to share information, to
arrest, to haul people in. And an effective United Nations will make it easier
to keep the peace in my judgment. But
the United Nations, in the face of Saddam Hussein, has not been effective. For
11 long years he's defied them. He's wheedled out of agreement. He's deceived.
He's lied. The question before the United Nations is, will you be the League of
Nations, or will you be an effective body to keep the peace. That's my
challenge to them. (Applause.) I
also challenged -- I also have made it clear that Saddam Hussein must disarm.
There's no negotiations. Those ended a long time ago. There's no need for us to
try to sit down at a table, there's no discussion to be had. He's got chemical
weapons; he needs to get rid of them, all of them. He's got biological weapons;
he needs to destroy all of them. There's no doubt in my mind he wants to have a
nuclear weapon, and he's got some capacity. I'm not saying he's got one yet,
but he's developing the capacity, as we learned right after Desert Storm. He
needs to get rid of it. No discussion, no debate, no negotiation. The burden of
proof is on Saddam Hussein. (Applause.) And
so now it's up to the United Nations, and it's up to Saddam Hussein to
determine whether or not there will be peace, to determine whether or not the
world's worst leader -- and remember, this is a guy who continues to torture
his people if they dissent. This is a man who's gassed his own people. This is
a man who attacked two countries in the neighborhood. This is a man who used
gas on a neighbor. This is a man who continually lies. This is a man who does
not know the truth. This is a man who is a threat to peace. It's up to the
United Nations, and it's up to him to decide their fate. If the United Nations
won't act, if he doesn't disarm, the United States will lead a coalition to
make sure he does. (Applause.) I
want to thank members of both parties, Republicans and Democrats, for joining
to work with us to develop a strong statement of resolve. Today in the Rose
Garden, right before I got on Air Force One, I had a public event with
Democrats and Republicans, members of the Congress who have joined with us to
send a clear message to the world about America, our strength of purpose, our
desire for peace, our unwillingness to accept 11 years of deceit. This
is not a partisan issue, folks. This is an issue that is important for America.
This is
an American issue, a uniquely American issue. And it's -- as I reminded the
members, that -- I say uniquely American issue because I truly believe that now
that the war has changed, now that we're a battlefield, this man poses a much
graver threat than anybody could have possibly imagined. Other countries, of
course, bear the same risk. But there's no doubt his hatred is mainly directed
at us. There's no doubt he can't stand us. After all, this is a guy that tried
to kill my dad at one time. I
take my responsibility seriously as the Commander-in-Chief. I want you to know
I understand the -- how serious it is to commit our troops. But I truly believe
that history has called us, and we're going to have to act if he doesn't he's
expected to do. And when we do, we'll be swift and strong. If we have to, we'll
win. And the world is more likely to be at peace after it happens. (Applause.) I
long for peace. Behind the rhetoric is a deep desire for peace, and I believe
it's achievable. But we're going to have to remain strong and determined. We
must continue to speak clearly about good and evil. We must be resolved in our
determination to defend freedom and to free people around the world. And
there's no doubt we can achieve the mission, no doubt in my mind. As
we work to make America a stronger and safer place, we have always got to
remember to make it a better place, too. And that's really important. I know
John shares my passion for education. We passed a good education bill in
Washington. I want to share with you right quick what it says. It says, every
child can learn. I
don't know if you remember, in the campaign, I said I promise to challenge the
soft bigotry of low expectations. I know that when you lower standards, that
people suffer, and generally when you lower standards, they're lowered for
inner-city kids or kids whose parents don't speak English as a first language.
We believe in high standards, and we raised the bar. We trust local folks to
manage the path to excellence. But
for the first time, the federal government says, when you receive federal
money, you show us whether or not the children are learning to read and write
and add and subtract. If you receive a dime of federal money, we expect you to
perform. Every child can learn, and no child will be left behind in America.
(Applause.) A
better America is one that has got a health care system that is responsive to
the people. John's got a strong record of holding HMOs accountable for bad
decisions they make, and I appreciate that record, John. (Applause.) We need a
prescription drug plan for seniors. Listen, Medicare is an incredibly important
program. It is old. Medicine has changed; Medicare hasn't. And we need to
change Medicare with medicine, so seniors get the kind of coverage they need
and deserve. And I look forward to working with John on that. And
I'll tell you, one other thing we need to do in Washington, you see, health
care needs to be accessible and affordable. Lawsuits are driving docs out of
business. Lawsuits are driving up the cost of medicine. We need federal medical
liability insurance. (Applause.) There's no doubt in my mind of the two
candidates in this race, John will work with us on these issues; no doubt. And
as we work on these issues, I believe America will be a better place for it. You
know, the enemy hit us. I can't imagine what was going through their mind. They
probably thought America was so selfish and materialistic and self-absorbed
that after 9/11/2001, we might file a lawsuit or two. (Laughter.) They don't
understand us, do they? This nation is a strong nation, it's a fabulous nation.
Out of the evil done to America is going to come some good. You mark my words.
If we remain strong and tough in our war against terror, we can achieve peace.
We can achieve peace not only for America, we can achieve peace in the Middle
East, we can achieve peace in South Asia. If we remain strong and principled
and determined, we can have a peaceful world, and I believe it's going to
happen. And
at home, if we unleash the true strength of the country, we'll have a better
America. You see, we've got to understand that in America there are pockets of
despair and hopelessness and loneliness and addiction. There are people who
hurt. There are people that when you say the American Dream, they say, I have
no idea what you're talking about. But that can change, because the true
strength of America is the people of America. The true strength of America is
the fact that our country is full of loving and caring and decent people who
have heard a new call. See,
I think there is a new culture evolving -- one from, if -- it says, if it feels
good, do it, and, you've got a problem, blame somebody else, to a culture that
says, each of us are responsible for decisions we make in life. (Applause.)
That means if you're a mom or a dad, you're responsible for loving your
children with all your heart. That's your most important responsibility. It
means if you're living in a community in Texas, you're responsible for the
quality of life and you're responsible for loving your neighbor just like you'd
like to be loved yourself. It says, if you're running a corporation in America,
you're responsible to tell the truth to your shareholders and employees.
(Applause.) As
a result of this change of attitude, as a result that people now understand
that patriot is more than somebody who just puts his hand over his heart, a
patriot is somebody who cares for somebody who hurts. America is changing. The
enemy hit us, but out of the evil will come some incredible good -- a more
compassionate society. My
call to our fellow Americans is to understand the limitations of government.
Listen, government can hand out money -- we can do that, and we do a pretty
good job of it sometimes -- but what we can't do is put hope in people's
hearts, or a sense of purpose in people's lives. Government is not capable of
saying, I love you, to a child who hurts, or, what can I do, to somebody who is
shut in. That will happen when our fellow citizens recognize we can change America
for the better, one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. No,
the enemy hit us, and it's been tough on America. But out of the evil is going
to come a peaceful world and a more compassionate society, because this is the
greatest nation, full of the finest people, on the face of the Earth. May
God bless you all. |
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