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Skriven 2006-09-21 23:31:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0609219) for Thu, 2006 Sep 21
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Remarks by the President at Gus Bilirakis for Congress Reception
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For Immediate Release
September 21, 2006

Remarks by the President at Gus Bilirakis for Congress Reception
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, Florida



1:36 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Gus, thanks. There's nothing wrong with a son following in
his father's footsteps. (Applause.) Particularly when you've got such a
good son as Gus Bilirakis. (Laughter and applause.) He's the right man for
the United States Congress, and I appreciate you all coming to support him.

I've been looking for Brother. (Laughter.) He claims he's working.
(Laughter.) But I know he sends his best. He, like me, recognizes that Gus
is the right man to serve you in the United States Congress, he really is.
He's a good, decent, honorable, family-oriented man who will represent the
interests of the folks down here. So Jeb sends his best.

But more importantly, so does Laura. (Laughter and applause.) Like me, Gus
married well. (Laughter.) It was my privilege to meet Eva and the four boys
who are here. It's good to see you guys. Thanks for coming. Thanks for
helping dad get elected. He's going to need your help putting up those
signs. And he's going to need the help of a family standing with him. And
that's why it's important to have people who go to Washington, D.C. who
have prioritized their families. And the Bilirakis is a family-oriented
group of folks. (Applause.) They understand that families are important for
a stable society, and I'm proud to be here with Gus and all his friends.

Thank you all for coming. It's not easy to have a fundraiser this
successful, it really isn't. I know how much work it took, Gus, to convince
this many people for coming. It's a good sign when you're running for
Congress, Gus, and you get this many people to stand up and say, we're
willing to help you. And for those of you who have given, thanks. And for
those of you who wonder if there's still more to do, there is. And so I
urge you to think about putting up signs and getting on the telephone and
turning out the votes. Go to your churches and places of worship, community
centers, and remind people when you've got somebody who is honest and
decent and who shares the values of the people in Tampa, vote for him and
send him to Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

We not only married well, we share something else in common: we've got
strong-willed mothers. (Laughter and applause.) And I'm glad to be here
with Evelyn. The only difference between Ms. Bilirakis and my mother is my
mother's hair is white. (Laughter.) Both of them speak their mind. As a
matter of fact, when I ran into Miss Bilirakis earlier, she said to me --
this is in Washington -- she says, "My boy is running, and you get down
there and help him as quickly as you can." (Laughter and applause.) Isn't
that right? (Laughter.) I'm proud to be with you. Thanks for serving. You
married a good man. He served this district well, as will his son.

I'm proud to be here with Congresswoman Katherine Harris, running for the
United States Senate. (Applause.) I want to thank -- I want to thank Bing
Kearney, who is the event chairman, and all the organizers. (Applause.)
Appreciate you coming. Thanks for your help.

I'm looking forward to the campaign. I'm looking forward to reminding the
American people there are significant differences in between what our party
believes and what the other party believes. If there's a -- it's easy to
tell us apart. And the first place you can start is looking at taxes.
There's a fundamental difference in this campaign and campaigns all across
the country about who best to spend your money. We believe that the best
people to spend your money is you. (Applause.) We believe that once you set
priorities, it's important to have money in their pocket, because we know
that when you save, invest, and spend, it helps this economy grow.

And so working with members of the United States Congress, we passed the
largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the President. We cut the taxes
on everybody who pays income taxes. (Applause.) We doubled the child
credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. We didn't think it made sense, by
the way, to penalize marriage. We think that society ought to encourage
marriage.

We cut the taxes on capital and -- capital gains and dividends, to
encourage investment. We understand the role of government is not to create
wealth, but to create an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit
flourishes. We put the death tax on the road to extinction, because we want
to help our small businesses prosper. (Applause.) There should be no doubt
in anybody's mind where we stand on cutting taxes.

And the Democrats in Washington have got a record of their own, and there
should be no doubt in anybody's mind where they stand. When we first cut
taxes back in 2001 to get this economy going, when we cut taxes to recover
from a recession, when we cut taxes to make sure we recovered from a
corporate scandal, almost 85 percent of the House Democrats voted against
it. When we cut taxes in 2003, nearly 95 percent of the House Democrats
voted against you having more money in your pocket. And when we extended
the key tax cuts earlier this year, more than 92 percent of the House
Democrats voted against it. I think you're beginning to get a drift of
their philosophy about your money.

One leading Democrat predicted this: He said the tax cuts would do nothing
to create jobs. That's what they were saying when we said we were going to
cut the taxes on the small business owners and the working people, to make
sure you had more money in your pocket, which would stimulate job growth.
And one of the leaders said, no, that's not going to do anything to create
jobs.

Well, since those words were uttered in May of 2003, our economy has added
nearly 5.7 million new jobs. (Applause.) That's more jobs than Canada,
France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, all put together. This
economy is strong because of pro-growth economic policies. (Applause.)

You see, what our opponents don't understand is that the economy grows when
you control more of your own money. The tax cuts we passed put more than a
trillion dollars in the hands of American workers and families and
businesses. And you used that money to help us become a strong economy, the
world leader.

And now we got a choice to make, and that's what elections are all about,
giving the people clear choices. Do you want to keep your taxes low so we
can keep the economy growing, or do we raise taxes and let the politicians
in Washington try to grow the economy?

Gus has made his position clear, and so have I. We're going to let you keep
more of your own money. But the Democrats have made their position clear,
too. I want you to remember the last time they had control of the United
States Congress back in 1993, they passed a massive tax increase. In the 13
years since then, they've worked hard to sustain their record as the party
of high taxes.

A majority of House Democrats have voted against reducing the marriage
penalty not once, not twice, but 26 times. It's a clear record. A majority
of House Democrats have voted against a higher child tax credit 19 times.
It's a clear record. If they get control of the House of Representatives,
they'll raise your taxes. It will hurt our economy, and that's why we're
not going to let them get control of the House of Representatives, and
elect people like Gus Bilirakis. (Applause.)

Just this week, the top Democrat on the House tax-writing committee said
this -- it's important for the American people to know there's a difference
in point of view; they just think differently, got different philosophies
about to do -- what to do with your money -- here's what the top Democrat
said on the committee that's going to write -- determine what happens to
your taxes. He said, I can't think of one of our tax cuts that should be
extended.

That's one way of saying, they're going to raise your taxes, because, you
see, if you don't extend the tax cuts, your taxes go up. They may not call
it a tax increase. They may want you to think something different. But if
they don't extend the tax cuts that are set to expire, the working people,
the small business owners, those that are struggling to put food on the
table for their families, the taxes are going to go up.

Now, they're going to say -- they may not tell you they're going to raise
your taxes. They're just going to say they're just going to let the tax
relief expire. That's like a boss who came in and said, you know something,
I'm going to let your last pay raise expire. (Laughter.) We're not going to
let it happen. We're going to make it clear the differences between our
desire to keep your taxes low, and their desire to run your taxes up. Good
economic policy says, we got plenty of taxes in Washington, D.C., let's
make sure the entrepreneurs and small businesses have enough money in their
pocket to expand this job base so people can find work. (Applause.)

And I'm looking forward to talking about this until election day. I think
it's a big issue. I think there are plenty of people across the country --
Republicans, discerning Democrats, and wise independents -- who understand
they're paying plenty of taxes to Washington, D.C. Oh, you'll hear this,
they're going to say -- and Gus, I'm sure you'll have to deal with this --
they're going to say, look, we've got to raise your taxes to balance the
budget. That's not the way Washington, D.C. works. They will raise your
taxes and figure out new ways to spend your money. The best way to balance
the budget is to keep pro-growth economic policies in place that are
generating additional tax revenues into the Treasury, and be wise about how
we spend your money. We've got to set clear priorities in Washington, D.C.,
and the top priority is to make sure our troops will have what it takes to
defend the United States of America. (Applause.)

There's a lot of issues. A lot of issues will be -- I'll be working with
Gus on. One issue, of course, is to make sure we diversify our energy
supplies. We've got to make sure we get off of hydrocarbons as quickly as
possible. But in the meantime, we'll be exploring for hydrocarbons, and
we'll do so in an environmentally friendly way that protects the coast of
the state of Florida.

I told you that I would support reasonable limits, extended limits, about
off-shore drilling, and I've kept my word to the Governor, I've kept my
word to the people of Florida, and I'm going to continue working with this
Congressman to make sure that we have good, sane energy policy.

I'm going to continue to work with this congressman-to-be on making sure
seniors have got prescription drugs that they can afford. You might
remember, before I came into Washington, D.C., Medicare was an important
policy, but it was growing tired and old. Medicine was changing -- there's
a lot of doctors out here who know what I'm talking about -- Medicare
wasn't changing with it. It was a system that just simply wasn't meeting
the needs of our seniors. So I said to Congress, why don't we modernize
Medicare; why don't we make sure that our seniors have got prescription
drug coverage as a part of a modern Medicare system?

We worked hard; we got the legislation out. And now I'm going to make sure
we work with the United States Congress, the new Congress after this
election, to make sure the Medicare reforms we put in place that are
benefiting seniors of all political parties, all across the nation, don't
get watered down by people who think the best way to run medicine is to
have the federal government make every single decision.

I'm looking forward to working with Gus Bilirakis to make sure the good
reforms we put in place to make sure every child gets a good education
stays there. The No Child Left Behind Act is making a significant
difference for the United States of America, and Congressman, I look
forward to working with you on its reauthorization.

And I'm looking forward to working with this good man to keep the peace.
This is a nation at war. And we've got to have people in the United States
Congress who see the world the way it is, not the way we would like it to
be. We can't afford to not be realistic about the world in which we live.
The stakes are too high. There's an enemy that still wants to attack us. I
wish I could report otherwise, but that is not the reality of the world in
which we live. And therefore, the most important job the Congressman will
have -- will to join with other members of Congress and the administration
to protect the United States of America. (Applause.)

If somebody is -- associated with al Qaeda is making a phone call into the
United States of America, we want to know why, so we can protect the United
States against further attack. (Applause.) If somebody associated with
terrorism is moving money around, we need to know why so we can protect the
United States of America from attack. (Applause.) If there are walls that
make it hard for intelligence-gatherers and those charged with protecting
this country, make it hard for them to communicate, we want to tear down
those walls so we can protect the United States of America from attack. Our
most important job in Washington is to protect you. And we'll do everything
we can.

I remind people that the enemy has got to be right once, and we got to be
right a hundred percent of the time in order to protect us. So the best way
to protect the United States of America is to stay on the offense and bring
the enemy to justice before they come here and hurt us in America.
(Applause.)

And that's exactly what we're doing. Every day, you just need to know, some
of America's finest folks are on the offense. We're running down every lead
possible. It's hard to plot and plan attacks against the United States when
you're on the run. I need members of Congress who understand that you can't
negotiate with these folks, you can't hope that they change their mind,
that the best way to protect the American people is to defeat them overseas
so we do not have to face them here at home. (Applause.)

And the central front on this war on terror is Iraq. I know some Americans
say, well, it's not associated with the war on terror. Well, all I ask them
to do is listen to what Osama bin Laden says when he calls Iraq the third
-- World War III. All I ask is that our fellow citizens be realistic about
the world and listen to the words of senior al Qaeda when they say our
objective is to -- their objective is to run us out of the Middle East so
they can topple moderate governments, so they could have energy resources
at their disposal to inflict economic damage on those of us who refuse to
cow tow to their demands, run us out of the Middle East so that they could
achieve one of their objectives, which is the destruction of our close
ally, Israel.

Iraq is a central front in this war on terror, and we've got a plan to
defeat the enemy. And it starts with answering to the will of 12 million
brave Iraqis who said, when given a chance to vote, we want to be free.

There's big debate about Saddam Hussein. My view is today as it was then,
he was a threat. You see, after 9/11, we had to take threats seriously
before they came home to hurt us. In order to protect this country, if you
think the most important obligation of the federal government is to protect
the country, then you must recognize that we do two things -- one, if we
find somebody harboring terrorists, we hold them to account; and we got to
take threats seriously before they come home to hurt us. Saddam Hussein was
a threat.

And don't let people rewrite the history of the way the world was. He was a
state sponsor of terror. He paid family of suiciders. He had attacked his
neighbors. He had used weapons of mass destruction. He was a sworn enemy of
the United States of America. And he had been given ample time to disclose,
disarm or face serious consequences by over a dozen United Nations Security
Council resolutions. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to
do, and the world is peaceful because of it. (Applause.) The world is more
peaceful because of it.

And the world will be more peaceful when democracy takes hold in Iraq. And
it's hard work. It's hard work because al Qaeda understands that
democracies in the Middle East defeat their ideological vision of an
extremist caliphate. It's hard because Saddamists are upset that they're no
longer in power. It's hard because people are taking revenge for past
history. But it's necessary work. It's necessary for our security.

If we were to leave before the mission was done, what kind of signal would
that send to the extremists and radicals who want to harm either the United
States or our close allies? What kind of signal would it send to the
reformers and dreamers of a better life that the United States has lost its
will? What kind of signal would it send to those who count on the United
States for its leadership? Our credibility would be damaged. Our enemies
would be emboldened.

We're constantly changing tactics, but our strategy has not changed. We
will help the Iraqis build a military where they can defend their freedom.
We will help them build the institutions necessary for a free society to
work. We will do our job and stand by the people of Iraq, and the world
will be better for it when democracy takes hold. (Applause.)

You know, people ask me all the time -- people ask me all the time, you
know -- they say, what do you mean, when democracy takes hold? Do you think
-- really think people in the Middle East want to be free? And the answer
is, absolutely. We believe in the United States and the universality of
freedom. I personally believe there's an Almighty, and I think a great gift
from that Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul to be free.
(Applause.) I'm not talking about just American Methodists. I believe in
everybody's soul is the desire to be free. And I know that when you look at
history, liberty has got the capacity to defeat resentment and ideologies
of hate.

You know, one of the stories I like to share with people is my experience
with the Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi. You might
remember, I had an interesting -- interesting trip. (Laughter.) He and I
went down to Elvis' place. (Laughter.) Went down there for a couple of
reasons: One, I had never been to Elvis' place, and I'd like to go, you
know. I thought it would be kind of fun. (Laughter.) More importantly, he
wanted to go. (Laughter.) He loves Elvis. (Laughter.) He can sing all the
songs, you know. (Laughter.) Collects the memorabilia.

But I also wanted to send a signal to the American people about what's
possible when liberty takes hold. A fellow came through the line recently
here, and he said, "My grandfather served on the USS San Jacinto with your
dad." They were in the Pacific Ocean, young guys who had been called into
action because the Japanese had attacked us, and we were in a brutal war
with Japan -- a really tough war.

The hatred for -- of America for Japan was intense, and so intense you can
imagine how people would react if somebody had stood up and said, I predict
some day an American President and the Japanese Prime Minister would be
going to, you know, a singer's house. (Laughter.) They would have run him
out of town, probably, you know. (Laughter.)

But that's, in fact, what happened. And when we were on the airplane going
down from Washington to Memphis, we were talking about keeping the peace.
The Prime Minister of a country with which we were at war, a brutal war --
young kids went off and never came home; unbelievable devastation and
destruction in that war, a war ended by massive bombing -- the Prime
Minister of that country and the President of the United States were
talking about peace. We were talking about North Korea, what we could do
together to keep the peace. We were talking about the need to help this
young democracy in the heart of the Middle East succeed so it could defeat
an ideology of hatred. We were talking about how democracy has got the
capacity to defeat the conditions that create resentment and hopelessness
that cause young men to decide to become suicide bombers.

It's an amazing lesson of history, isn't it? It strikes me as so ironic, in
a way, that my dad fought the Japanese, and his son sits down with the
Prime Minister of the same country to keep the peace. What happened was
Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Liberty has got the unbelievable
capacity to convert enemies into allies, to change nations from
hopelessness to hope. Some day an American President will be sitting down
talking to duly-elected leaders of the Middle East about how to keep the
peace, and a generation of American children will be better off for it.
(Applause.)

And those are the stakes. We're in the great ideological struggle of the
21st century. It's a struggle playing out now in the Middle East, between
decent, honorable people who want something better for their children than
war and turbulence, versus extremists and radicals who use terrorism and
murder to create fear. And the United States must lead in this ideological
struggle to achieve the peace we all want.

And so I'm proud to stand with a man who sees the world the way it is; a
person who understands that this great country has got responsibilities not
only to protect ourselves, but responsibilities to lay the foundation for
peace for generations to come.

It's an exciting time to be representing the greatest nation on the face of
the Earth. You'll like it up there, Gus. (Laughter.) And I hope you all
work hard to make sure he gets there. Thanks for coming. May God bless you.
(Applause.)

END 2:01 P.M. EDT
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