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Skriven 2004-10-31 23:33:24 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0410315) for Sun, 2004 Oct 31
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Remarks by the President at Victory 2004 Rally
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 31, 2004

Remarks by the President at Victory 2004 Rally
University Air Center
Gainesville, Florida



4:25 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you all for coming. So Jeb
said, why don't we go to Gainesville, maybe a couple hundred will show up
and say hello. I said, well, I'm more than willing to go. I can't thank you
all enough for coming. Thanks for taking time -- (applause.) Thanks for
taking time out of our Sunday afternoon. You're lifting our spirits, and we
appreciate it. (Applause.)

I'm here to ask for your vote and your help. I'm here to get you to -- ask
you to take your friends and neighbors to the polls. Remind them we have a
duty in our free country to vote. We have an obligation in my judgment to
participate in our democratic system. Now, when you're lining up votes, of
course, look for our fellow Republicans and independents. But don't forget
to get discerning Democrats to go to the polls, people like Senator Zell
Miller, from right north of here. (Applause.) And when you get them headed
to the polls, remind them, if they want a safer America, a stronger
America, and a better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
(Applause.)

Perhaps the most important reason of all to put me back in is so that Laura
is the First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Laura! Laura! Laura!

THE PRESIDENT: I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. I don't want to
offend anybody here who's follically challenged, but I readily concede my
running mate doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. (Laughter.) But I
suspect the people of north-central Florida are going to be pleased to know
I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. (Applause.) I picked him because
of his judgment; I picked him because of his experience. He's getting the
job done for the American people. (Applause.)

I'm proud of brother, Jeb. What a great Governor. (Applause.) And what a
great brother. Jeb and I share the same campaign consultant -- Mother.
(Laughter.) And my brother, Marvin, is with us, too. I'm proud Marv is
here. Thanks for coming, Marvin. (Applause.) I love my family, and I'm glad
that -- I'm a fortunate man to have such a great family.

Listen, I want to urge you, when you go to the polls, to vote for Mel
Martinez for the next senator of your state. (Applause.) I know him well.
He'll make a great United States senator for Florida. (Applause.) I want to
thank Congressman Cliff Stearns for joining us today. He does a great job
for the people of this part of the world. (Applause.) I want to thank all
the other candidates, people running for office. I want to thank Carole
Jean Jordan and all the grassroots activists who are here. I want to thank
the Bellamy Brothers for being here. I'm proud to call them friend. I'm
glad they are here. (Applause.)

I want to thank you for what you have done. It takes a lot of work to turn
out a crowd this big. I want to thank you for what you're going to do --
call your friends, call your neighbors, turn them out. We'll carry Florida
again and win a great victory on Tuesday. (Applause.)

This election takes place in a time of great consequence. The person who
sits in the Oval Office for the next four years will set the course on the
war on terror and the direction of our economy. America will need strong,
determined, optimistic leadership, and I am ready for the work ahead.
(Applause.)

My four years as your President have confirmed some lessons and have taught
me some new ones. I've learned to expect the unexpected, because war can
arrive quietly on a quiet morning. I have learned firsthand how hard it is
to send young men and women into battle, even when the cause is right. I am
grateful for the lessons I've learned from my parents: respect every
person, do your best, live every day to its fullest. I have been
strengthened by my faith and humbled by its reminder that every life is
part of a larger story. (Applause.) I've learned how crucial it is for the
American President to lead with clarity and purpose. And Presidents from
Lincoln to Roosevelt to Reagan so clearly demonstrated, a President must
not shift with the wind. A President should make the tough decisions and
stand by them. (Applause.) The role of a President is not to follow the
path of the latest polls; he role of a President is to lead based on
principle and conviction and conscience. (Applause.)

During these four years, I've learned that whatever your strengths are,
you're going to need them, and whatever your shortcomings are, people will
notice him. (Laughter.) Sometimes I'm a little too blunt. I get that from
my mother. (Applause.) Sometimes I mangle the English language. I get that
from my father. (Laughter.) But all the time, no matter whether you agree
with me or not, you know where I stand, what I believe and where I'm going
to lead. (Applause.)

You cannot say that about my opponent.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: I think it is fair to say that consistency is not his strong
suit. (Applause.) I look at an issue and take a principled stand. As we've
learned in this campaign, my opponent looks at an issue and tries to take
every side. The people of Florida know the difference. (Applause.) And on
Tuesday, Florida will vote for strong leadership and send me and Dick
Cheney back to Washington. (Applause.)

This election comes down to a clear choices on five vital issues -- issues
facing every family in our country. The first clear choice concerns your
family budget. When I ran for President four years ago I pledged to lower
taxes for our families. I kept my word. (Applause.) We doubled the child
credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. We believe the code ought to
encourage marriage, not penalize marriage. (Applause.) We dropped the
lowest bracket to 10 percent. And as a result of these good policies, real
after-tax income -- the money in your pocket, the money you have available
for spending -- is up by about 10 percent since I took office. (Applause.)

And this economy of ours has been through a lot. The stock market was in
serious decline six months prior to my arrival. Then we had a recession and
corporate scandals and an attack on our country that cost us a million jobs
in three months after September the 11th.

But we acted. And our policies are paying off. Our economy is growing at
rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. We've added 1.9 million jobs in
the last 13 months. Home ownership rate is at an all-time high. (Applause.)
More minority families own a home than ever before in our history.
(Applause.) The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Our small businesses are
flourishing. Florida's farmers and ranchers are making a good living.
(Applause.) The unemployment rate is 5.4 percent across this country. Let
me put that in perspective for you: That's lower than the average rate of
the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in the great
state of Florida is 4.5 percent. This economy is strong, and it is getting
stronger. (Applause.)

My opponent has an economic plan, too. He voted to increase taxes 98 times.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: That's in 20 years. That's five times a year, nearly. I
would call that a predictable pattern, a leading indicator. In this
campaign, he's also promised $2.2 trillion of new spending. That is
trillion with a "T." That's a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts.
(Laughter.)

They asked him how he's going to pay for it. He threw out that same old,
tired line: we're going to tax the rich. By raising the top two brackets,
you raise between $600 billion and $800 billion. That's far short of the
$2.2 trillion. There is a tax gap. And given his record, guess who he's
going to ask to fill it? You. The good news is, we're not going to let him
tax you. We will carry Florida and win on November the 2nd. (Applause.)

The second clear choice in this election involves the quality of life for
our nation's families. I ran for President to challenge and end the soft
bigotry of low expectations by reforming our schools. I kept my word.
(Applause.) We passed education reforms to bring high standards to the
classrooms of America. Math and reading scores are up. We're closing an
achievement gap for minority students across this country. My vision for a
new term is to build on these reforms and extend them to our high schools
so that no child is left behind in America. (Applause.)

We will continue to improve our lives for our families by making health
care more available and affordable. We'll expand health savings accounts.
We will allow small businesses to join together so they can buy insurance
at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. We'll help our
families in need. We'll help patients and doctors by getting rid of the
frivolous and junk lawsuits that are running docs out of practice and
running up your medical. (Applause.)

I'm standing with the families of Florida. I'm standing with the doctors of
Florida. I am for medical liability reform now. (Applause.) In all we do to
improve the health care for our families, we will make sure the decisions
are made by doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, D.C.
(Applause.)

My opponent has a different approach. He voted for the education reform,
but now wants to weaken the accountability standards. He's proposing a big
government health care plan. You might remember in the debate, they said,
talk about your health care plan. He looked straight in the camera and he
said, the government doesn't have anything to do with it. I could barely
contain myself. (Laughter.) The government has got a lot to do with it.
Eighty percent of the people on his plan end up on a government plan. He's
voted against medical liability reform 10 times. He's put a personal injury
trial lawyer on the ticket.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: He can run from his record, but he cannot hide. (Applause.)

The third clear choice in this election involves your retirement. Our
nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social Security
and Medicare. When I ran for President four years ago, I promised to keep
that commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drug coverage.
I kept my word. (Applause.) Seniors are getting discounts on medicine with
drug discount cards. Low-income seniors are getting help to pay for their
prescription. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able to get
prescription drug coverage through Medicare. (Applause.)

My opponent has a record on this issue. He voted against the Medicare bill
that included prescription drug coverage. In this campaign, he said he
promised to repeal the bill. And then shortly thereafter, he promised to
keep it. That sounds familiar. He also tries to scare our seniors about
their Social Security, but he conveniently forgets that he's the one that
voted eight times for higher taxes on Social Security benefits. He can run,
but he cannot hide. (Applause.)

I've kept the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and I will always
keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors. But I understand we
have a problem for the younger generation coming up. Baby boomers like me,
and some others I see out there, are in pretty good shape when it comes to
Social Security. But we need to worry about the younger folks. That's why I
believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own payroll
taxes and set up a personal savings account, a personal savings account
they call their own. (Applause.)

In a new term, I'll bring people together to strengthen Social Security for
generations to come.

The fourth clear choice in this elections are on the values that are so
crucial to keeping our families strong. I stand for marriage and family,
which are the foundations of our society. (Applause.) I stand for a culture
of life in which every person counts and every being matters. I proudly
signed the ban on partial birth abortion. (Applause.) I stand for the
appointment of federal judges who know the difference between personal
opinion and the strict interpretation of the law. (Applause.)

On these issues, my opponent and I are miles apart. He said he would only
appoint judges who pass his liberal litmus test. He was part of an extreme
minority that voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, and he voted
against the ban on partial birth abortion.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: There is a mainstream in American politics, and John Kerry
sits on the far left bank. He can run from his liberal record, but he
cannot hide. (Applause.)

The final choice in this election is the most important one of all because
it concerns the security of your family. All progress on every other issue
depends on the safety of our citizens. The most solemn duty of the American
President is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty
or weakness during these troubled times, the world will drift toward
tragedy. This is not going to happen on my watch. (Applause.)

Our strategy is clear. We are strengthening protections for the homeland.
We are reforming and strengthening our intelligence capabilities. We are
transforming the United States military. The all-volunteer army will remain
an all-volunteer army. There will be no draft. (Applause.) We are
determined; we are relentless. We will stay on the offensive. We are
fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
(Applause.)

And we're succeeding. Afghanistan is an ally in the war on terror. Pakistan
and Saudi Arabia are making raids and arrests. Libya is dismantling its
weapons programs, The army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom, and al
Qaeda no longer controls territory like Afghanistan. They no longer have
training camps there. We are systematically destroying the al Qaeda network
across the world. More than three-quarters of al Qaeda's key members and
associates have been brought to justice, and the rest of them know, we are
on their trail. (Applause.)

The leader must be consistent. The leader must not send mixed signals to
the world. My opponent has taken a different approach. Senator Kerry says
that we're better off with Saddam Hussein out of power, except when he says
that removing Saddam made us less safe. He said in our second debate that
he always believed Saddam was a threat, except, a few questions later, when
he insisted Saddam Hussein was not a threat. He said he was right when he
voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein, but I was wrong
to use force to remove Saddam Hussein.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: The problems of Senator Kerry's record on national security
are deeper than election-year reversals. For 20 years, on the largest
national security issues of our time, he has been consistently wrong.
During the Cold War, Senator Kerry voted against critical weapons systems
and opposed Ronald Reagan's policy of peace through strength. History has
shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and President Ronald Reagan was right.
(Applause.)

When former President Bush assembled an international coalition to drive
Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, Senator Kerry voted against the use of force to
liberate Kuwait.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong, and former
President Bush was right. (Applause.)

One year after the bombing, the first bombing of the World Trade Center,
the Senator proposed massive cuts in America's intelligence, so massive
that even his fellow Massachusetts liberal, Ted Kennedy, would not support
them. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and -- let's be fair
about it -- Senator Kennedy was right. (Applause.)

We will be relentless, we will be strong, we will be consistent in our
security in securing this country. And we've got a great United States
military to help. (Applause.)

I thank those who wear our nation's uniform who are with us today.
(Applause.) I thank the military families who are here with us today.
(Applause.) And I thank the veterans who have set such a great example for
those who wear the uniform. (Applause.) I assure you, we'll keep our
commitment I made to the troops and their families and to our vets. We will
make sure our troops have all the resources they need to complete their
missions.

That is why I went to the Congress in September of 2003 and asked for $87
billion of supplemental funding. It was important funding, it was necessary
funding. It was funding to support troops in harm's way in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. And we received great bipartisan support for that funding, so
strong only 12 members of the United States Senate voted against it, two of
whom were my opponent and his running mate.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kerry said on national TV prior to that vote that it
would be irresponsible to vote against the troops. Then the polls began to
change and he did the irresponsible thing, and he voted against the troops.
Then he entered the flip-flop hall of fame, by saying, I actually did vote
for the $87 billion right before I voted against it. He's given a lot of
answers since then about that vote, but I think the most revealing of all
is when he said, the whole thing was a complicated matter. (Laughter.) My
fellow Americans, there's nothing complicated about supporting our troops
in combat. (Applause.)

We have differences on how to best protect America's families. During one
of the debates, my opponent said that America must pass a global test
before we commit troops.

AUDIENCE: Boo!

THE PRESIDENT: Some of you probably think I'm making that up. I heard him.
He was standing right there. You see, to me that means that we've got to
get permission before we get troops. I'll work with our allies. I'll
continue to build alliances. But I will never turn over America's national
security decisions to leaders of other countries. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: A couple of weeks ago, Senator Kerry said that September the
11th didn't change him much at all. September the 11th changed me. It
changed my outlook about what we need to do to protect this country. A few
days after that attack, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers, on
September the 14th, 2001. It was a day I'll never forget. I'll never forget
the sights and sounds. I will never forget the workers in hard hats who
were yelling at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it takes." I'll
never forget the person that grabbed me by the arm and he looked me in the
eye, and he said, "Do not let me down." Ever since that day, I wake up
every morning trying to figure out how to better protect this country. I
will never relent in the security of America, whatever it takes.
(Applause.)

During the next four years --

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: During the next four years, we will use every asset at our
disposal to wage a comprehensive strategy to defend you. And perhaps the
strongest asset we have is freedom. (Applause.) I believe in the power of
liberty to transform nations. Free nations do not breed resentments. Free
nations do not export terror. Free nations become allies in the war on
terror. And by spreading freedom, we'll achieve the peace we all want for
our children and our grandchildren. (Applause.)

I want the younger folks here to think about what's happened in Afghanistan
in just three years. Society there was grim under the reign of the Taliban.
These people were ideologues of hate. Young girls couldn't go to school. If
their mothers didn't toe the line they'd get whipped in the public square,
and sometimes executed in the sports stadium. But because we acted to
defend ourselves, because we upheld a doctrine that said, if you harbor a
terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the terrorist, millions of people in
that country went to the polls to vote for President. And the first voter
was a 19-year-old woman. (Applause.)

Iraq is still dangerous. It's a dangerous place because that country is
headed toward a free society. There will be elections in January. Think how
far that country has come from the days of torture chambers and mass
graves. Freedom is on the march, and America and the world are better for
it. (Applause.) I believe everybody yearns to be free. Freedom is not
America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man
and woman in this world. (Applause.)

These are historic times and a lot is at stake in this election. The future
safety and prosperity of America are on the ballot. Ultimately, though,
this election comes down to who you can trust -- who you can trust to keep
your families secure; who you can trust to spread prosperity. I proudly
offer a record of leadership and results at a time of threat and challenge.

If you believe that taxes should stay low so families can pay the bills and
small businesses can create new jobs, I ask, come stand with me.
(Applause.) If you believe in high standards for our public schools, I ask
you, come stand with me. (Applause.) If you believe patients and doctors
should be in charge of health care, I ask you, come stand with me.
(Applause.) If you believe that this nation must honor the commitments of
Medicare and strengthen Social Security for generations to come, I ask,
come stand with me. (Applause.)

If you believe that this nation should honor marriage and family and make a
place for the weak and the vulnerable, I ask you, come stand with me.
(Applause.) If you believe America should fight the war on terror with all
our might and lead with unwavering confidence in our ideals, I ask you to
come stand with me. (Applause.)

If you are a Democrat who believes your party has turned too far to the
left this year, I ask you to come stand with me. (Applause.) If you are a
minority citizen and you believe that free enterprise -- in good schools
and enduring values of family and faith, and if you're tired of your vote
being taken for granted, I ask you to come stand with me. (Applause.) If
you are a voter who believes that the President of the United States should
say what he means and do what he says and keep his word, I ask you to come
stand with me. (Applause.)

Four years ago when I traveled your state asking for the vote, I made a
pledge that if elected, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the
office. With your help, with your hard work, I will do so for four more
years.

Thanks for coming. God bless. Thank you all. (Applause.)

END 4:55 P.M. EST
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