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Skriven 2005-09-12 23:33:08 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0509127) for Mon, 2005 Sep 12
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Remarks by the Vice President to the National Restaurant Association
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
September 12, 2005

Remarks by the Vice President to the National Restaurant Association
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Washington, D.C.



4:33 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I guess, we've got somebody here
from Wyoming, huh? (Laughter.) Right back there.

I was Wyoming's congressman for 10 years, elected six times. And of course,
as Craig mentioned Wyoming only had one congressman. It was a small
delegation, but it was quality. (Laughter.)

But I'm delighted to be here this afternoon. I want to thank Craig for
those words. And I'm pleased to have the opportunity to welcome all of you
to Washington. I saw Bob Novak on the way out. It's always easy to follow
Novak; he's so depressing, he leaves everybody -- (Laughter.) So I got to
do that for years. (Laughter.)

And although I know this is an annual conference, I assume some of you are
visiting for the first time, and we want to welcome you to the Nation's
Capital.

I appreciate the chance to say a few words to the members your organization
and to bring greetings to all of you from our President, George W. Bush.
(Applause.)

You've come to Washington in a busy season, and this is, of course, an
especially eventful time for our nation.

The President today is traveling once again down to the areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina. I was down just this weekend, met with officials at the
federal, state and local in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. The
devastation, of course, is enormous, and the work of cleanup and rebuilding
is going to be one of the most large scale -- or largest scale projects the
nation has ever undertaken.

It will take time, but we believe that we will get the job done. There is a
good strategy in place, a range of assets has been deployed, our active
duty troops and National Guard are providing security and logistic support.
Emergency responders are working around the clock to assist the victims.
Local communities, churches and civic organizations are coming together to
help those in need. And the President and the Congress are providing
massive assistance to our fellow citizens.

I know that, like many others in this country, members of the National
Restaurant Association have reached out to give help to victims of the
hurricane and the floods afterwards. I want to thank you for your
compassion and for your generosity to your fellow citizens who are trying
to rebuild their lives and reclaim their future. As tough as this has been,
there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the people and the communities
on the Gulf Coast are going to overcome these difficulties and come back
stronger than ever. (Applause.)

Families will return to their homes; our schools will reopen; the economy
is going to be back on track; and we will get the job done. And when it
comes to the great city of New Orleans, I think Americans are confident
that it's going to be back as an even greater city in the future.

As we answer the crisis on the Gulf Coast, we are going to continue working
on other great priorities for the country -- to keep the economy moving
forward, to extend America's prosperity into the lives of even more of our
citizens, and to protect the nation against those who wish to harm us.

As the President has said many times, we did not come to Washington simply
to mark time, but rather to face challenges squarely, to act when action is
required, to solve problems instead of simply passing them on to future
generations. That has been our approach from the first day we arrived.

When we took office four-and-a-half-years ago, the economy was sliding into
recession. To get it growing again, we delivered tax relief four times in
four years. We doubled the child tax credit, decreased the marriage
penalty, cut taxes across the board. We gave small businesses strong
incentives to invest, and we phased out the death tax, so that families and
farmers can leave behind to their families more of what they earned.
(Applause.)

These were the right policies for our struggling economy, and now we're
seeing the results. Americans today have more money to spend, to save, and
invest, and they are using it to drive the economy forward. Even allowing
for the economic impact of the hurricane on the Gulf Coast, our economy is
resilient and still on an upward path. The home ownership rate is high.
Interest rates are low. Manufacturing activity is strong. Productivity is
high. We've seen job gains steadily now for 27 straight months. Since May
of '03, this economy has generated over four million new jobs, and more
Americans are working today than ever before in our history.

At the same time, federal revenues are increasing -- proving once again
that lower taxes are an incentive for entrepreneurs to start businesses, to
invest in equipment, and to hire new workers. Thanks to a pro-growth
agenda, the federal deficit has been falling more quickly than projected.

To keep the economy on track, we're going to continue to be good stewards
of the taxpayer dollars. For the sake of long-term growth and job creation,
we need to make tax relief permanent, and we need to maintain strong
economic growth in order to generate the revenues that the government
clearly needs to meet our most urgent priorities.

We'll also keep the economy strong by delivering regulatory relief and
legal reforms that spare honest restaurant owners and other honest
entrepreneurs from junk lawsuits.

And in a time when all of us are concerned about higher gasoline prices, we
have set the nation on a better course to the future with an energy policy
-- recently enacted by the Congress -- that will expand production, promote
conservation and new technology, and make America less dependent on foreign
sources of energy.

To build a stronger, better America for the next generation, we must also
uphold the values that sustain our society -- limited government, personal
responsibility, free enterprise, reverence for life, and equal justice
under the law. And in this second term, President Bush will continue
nominating federal judges who faithfully interpret the law, instead of
legislating from the bench. (Applause.)

Throughout his time in office, the President has nominated men and women
who meet the highest standards of legal training, temperament, and judgment
-- the very kind of standards that were embodied in the late Chief Justice,
William Rehnquist. In keeping with this commitment, President Bush has
nominated a man of experience, wisdom, and character, Judge John Roberts,
to be the next Chief Justice of the United States.

Judge Roberts is universally regarded as one of the most distinguished and
talented lawyers in the country today. Two years ago he was confirmed by
unanimous consent to the second-highest court in the land. He comes before
the Senate Judiciary Committee for hearings beginning this afternoon, and
the President and I have full confidence that the Senate will recognize the
high caliber of this man and confirm him promptly with a fair up or down
vote.

In this time of testing for our country, the President and I understand
that our greatest responsibility is to provide for the active defense of
the American people.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the attacks on our country four years ago.
And even though four years have passed since 9/11, we have continuing,
urgent duties. That morning in 2001 changed everything for our country, as
we began fighting a new kind of war against determined enemies. The
terrorists behind 9/11 have declared their intention to kill great numbers
of innocent Americans, and they seek ever more deadly means of doing so.
There's a brand new tape out just today with more threats from the al Qaeda
organization.

This ongoing threat demands a comprehensive, effective response -- to make
the nation better able to respond to any future attacks, to reduce our
vulnerability, and, above all, to hunt down the terrorists before they can
hit us again.

Every morning President Bush and I receive an intelligence briefing that
includes a review of the threats we face. The enemy that appeared on 9/11
is wounded, off-balance, and on the run -- yet still very active, still
seeking new recruits, still trying to hit us.

Since 9/11 they have continued to kill at random in Casablanca, Jakarta,
Mombassa, Bali, Riyadh, Baghdad, Istanbul, Madrid, London, Sharm el-Sheikh
and elsewhere. Killers who target innocent, unsuspecting men, women, and
children during a morning rush hour, or fly passenger jets into buildings,
are not the kind of people you can bring to the bargaining table and sit
down for a reasonable exchange of ideas. Our only option against these
enemies is to find them, to fight them, and to destroy them. (Applause.)

In these 48 months, we have been unrelenting in the effort to defend
freedom and the security of the American people. In a multinational
campaign, we continue to make progress on many fronts -- financial, legal,
military, and others. We are dealing with a network that has had cells in
countries all over the globe. Yet bit by bit, through diplomacy and by
force, with our allies and partners, we are acting to shrink the area in
which they can operate freely.

Many countries have joined us in tracking the enemy, disrupting plots
against America and our friends, destroying the training camps of terror,
and closing off their access to funding. With good allies at our side we
removed two brutal regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have persuaded the
regime in Libya to voluntarily surrender its nuclear weapons program. We
have uncovered a sophisticated, large-scale network selling nuclear
technology on the international black market, and we have shut that network
down.

The United States has acted decisively, and we have sent a clear message:
We will not stand by and allow terrorists to find safe haven, or to gain
weapons for mass murder.

There is still hard work ahead, and the world is continuing to count on the
United States for leadership. We have no illusions about the difficulty of
engaging enemies who dwell in the shadows and recognize neither the laws of
warfare nor standards of morality. We cannot predict the length or the
course of the war on terror. Yet we know with certainty that with good
allies at our side, this great nation will prevail. (Applause.)

Yet overcoming threats is only the beginning of America's responsibilities.
In the broader Middle East, we are encouraging free markets, democracy, and
tolerance -- because these are the ideas and the aspirations that overcome
violence, and turn societies to the pursuit of peace.

Like other great duties in history, it will require decades of patient
effort, and it will be resisted by those whose only hope for power is the
spread of violence. Yet the direction of events is clear. Afghanistan has
held the first free elections in the nation's 5,000-year history. The
Palestinian people have chosen a new President and have new hopes for
democracy and peace.

In Lebanon, citizens have poured into the streets to demand freedom to
determine a peaceful future for their own country as a fully independent
member of the world community. And in Iraq, voters turned out in incredible
numbers and elected leaders who are now preparing the way for a new
constitution and a representative, pluralistic government. We are seeing
the power of freedom to change our world, and all who strive for freedom
can know that the United States of America is on their side. (Applause.)

We know from history that the technology of warfare is always changing. And
in our own time that technology is more deadly than ever. Yet our most
basic military asset has not changed in the slightest. It is the character,
the daring, and the resourcefulness of those who man the aircraft and the
ships, and carry the rifles.

For those of you with family members in the armed forces, you can be
tremendously proud of their service. There is simply no way to overstate
the quality of our men and women in uniform, or the skill and the bravery
that we're seeing every day. American soldiers and Marines are hanging
tough, going directly into the face of danger, rooting out deadly enemies,
and dealing with them. They are going to keep going after the terrorists,
and continue training the Iraqi military, so that Iraqis can eventually
take the lead in providing for their country's security. That mission will
be successful. And when it has concluded, the American people will welcome
our military home as the heroes they are. (Applause.)

As I said earlier, this is an eventful time for our country, and President
Bush and I recognize that the American people have entrusted us with great
responsibilities for the prosperity and security of our country. We've set
big goals. They're not always easy to achieve. And if they were, somebody
would have done them already. But it's more than worth the effort, and
we'll give it everything we have.

We're also very grateful for the support of people like you --
entrepreneurs from the heart of America who are committed to working hard,
improving your communities, creating jobs and opportunity for others. You
have our respect and admiration, and I greatly appreciate your hospitality
here today.

Thank you very much.

END 4:42 P.M. EDT

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