Text 6, 476 rader
Skriven 2004-10-30 23:37:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (041030c) for Sat, 2004 Oct 30
====================================================
===========================================================================
˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ October 30, 2004 Remarks by the President at Victory 2004
Rally
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 30, 2004

˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ October 30, 2004 Remarks by the President at Victory 2004
Rally
Tinker Field
Orlando, Florida



8:00 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) Laura and I really
thank you for taking time out of your Saturday evening to come by and lift
our spirits, and we're grateful for your presence. We're going to carry
Florida, with your help. (Applause.)

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

I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. Look, I readily concede he
doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. People of Orlando will be
pleased to know I didn't pick him up -- pick him because of his hair.
(Laughter.) 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.)

We are some kind of proud in my family of brother, Jeb. (Applause.) We
share the same campaign consultant -- Mother. (Laughter.) We're both
listening to her. Also proud my brother, Marvin Bush, is with us today.
Thank you for coming, big Marv. (Applause.)

I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor, Tony Jennings, Attorney General
Charlie Crist, Congressman Rick Keller, Congressman Tom Feeney. (Applause.)
I want to thank Rich Crotty. I want to thank my friend, Mel Martinez. Put
him in the Senate, he'll do a great job. (Applause.) I want to thank Mark
Wills. I want to thank Shawn Michaels, professional wrestler. (Applause.) I
was hoping to see him backstage -- if I could ask him if it was real.
(Laughter.)

I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. (Applause.) I
want to thank you for putting up the signs, making the phone calls. I know
how much work went into putting this great rally together. I thank you for
what you have done, and I want to thank you for what you're going to do as
we're coming down the stretch run. I need your help. I need your work. We
will carry Florida and win a great victory on November the 2nd. (Applause.)

My four years as your President have confirmed some lessons and taught me
some new ones. I have learned to expect the unexpected, because war and
emergency can arrive suddenly on a quiet autumn morning. I've learned
firsthand how hard it is to send young men and women into battle, even when
the cause is right. I've been grateful for the lessons I've learned from
our 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 know how a President needs to lead. As Presidents from Lincoln to
Roosevelt, to Reagan so clearly demonstrated, a President must not shift in
the wind; a President has to make tough decisions and stand by them.
(Applause.) The American President must not follow the path of the latest
polls. The role of the President is to lead based on principle and
conviction and conscience. (Applause.) Especially in a time of war, mixed
signals only confuse our friends and embolden our enemies. Mixed signals
are the wrong signals for an American President to send. (Applause.)

In the last four years, Americans have learned a few things about me, as
well. Sometimes, I'm a little too blunt. (Applause.) I get that from my
mother. Sometimes, I mangle the English language. I get that from my dad.
(Laughter.) But all the time, whether you agree with me or not, you know
where I stand and where I'm going to lead this nation. (Applause.)

You can't -- you cannot say that about my opponent. I think it's fair to
say that consistency is not his long suit. Next Tuesday, the American
people will vote for conviction and consistency, and with your help, we're
going to win this election. (Applause.)

This election comes down -- this election comes down to five choices for
your family. The first clear choice is the most important because it
concerns the security of your family. All progress on every other issue
depends on the safety of our citizens. Americans will go to the polls
Tuesday in a time of war and ongoing threats. The terrorists who killed
thousands of innocent people are still dangerous, and they're determined to
strike. The outcome of this election will set the direction of the war
against terror. The most solemn duty of the American President is to
protect the American people. (Applause.)

If America -- if America shows --

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

THE PRESIDENT: If America -- if America shows uncertainty or weakness in
these troubling times, the world will drift toward tragedy. This is not
going to happen on my watch. (Applause.)

Our strategy is clear: We've strengthened the protections for the homeland.
We're reforming our intelligence capabilities. We are transforming our
military -- the all-volunteer army will remain an all-volunteer army. There
will be no draft. (Applause.) We are relentless, we are steadfast, we are
determined. We will fight the terrorists across the globe so we do not have
to face them here at home. (Applause.)

Because we led, the world is changing. Afghanistan is a free nation and an
ally in the war on terror. Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders. Saudi
Arabia is making raids and arrests. Libya is dismantling its weapons
program. (Applause.) 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 will use every asset at our disposal to protect the American people. And
one of the best assets we have is freedom. (Applause.) I believe in the
power of liberty to transform society. I want the younger Americans here to
realize what has happened in a brief period of time. Three-and-a-half years
ago, young girls couldn't go to school in Afghanistan, because the Taliban
were so barbaric and backwards. And if their mothers didn't toe the
ideological line of hatred, they were taken into the public square and
whipped, and sometimes to a sports stadium and executed. Because we acted
in our own interest, because we upheld the doctrine that said if you harbor
a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the terrorist, millions of people
voted in the presidential election in Afghanistan, and the first voter was
a 19-year-old woman. (Applause.)

Freedom is powerful. Iraq is still dangerous, but Iraq will be having
elections in January. Think how far that country has come. (Applause.) It
is in our interests, it is in our children's interests that we promote
freedom and liberty around the world. 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.)

A President must lead with consistency and strength. In a war, sometimes
your tactics change, but never your principles. And you have seen how I do
my job. On good days and on bad days, when the polls are up or the polls
are down, I am determined to protect the American people. (Applause.) And I
will always support the United States military.

I want to thank those who wear our nation's uniform who are here today.
(Applause.) I want to thank the military families who are here today.
(Applause.) And I want to thank the veterans who have set such a great
example for those who wear the uniform. (Applause.) We will support our
troops in harm's way.

That's why I went to the United States Congress in September of 2003 and
asked for $87 billion of supplemental funding. This was necessary support.
We had troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq. We received great support for
that piece of legislation, so strong only 12 members of the United States
Senate opposed the funding for our troops in harm's way.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Two of those 12 were my opponent and his running mate. But I
want to tell you another statistic.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Let me tell you one more statistic. There were only four
members of the Senate who voted to authorize force, and then did -- voted
against supporting our troops in harm's way -- only four members, two of
whom were my opponent and his running mate.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him several times why he made the vote he
made. One of those answers was perhaps the most famous quote of the 2004
campaign, when he said, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion right
before I voted against it."

AUDIENCE: Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!

THE PRESIDENT: I have spent enough time -- I have spent enough time in the
great state of Florida to know not a people -- not a lot of people talk
that way here. (Laughter.) He's given several explanations since, but I
think the most revealing explanation of all about his vote against
supporting our troops was when he said, the whole thing was a complicated
matter. There is nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
(Applause.)

Senator Kerry's record on national security has a far deeper problem than
election-year flip-flopping. On the largest national security issues of our
time, he has been consistently wrong. When Ronald Reagan was confronting
the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, Senator Kerry said that
President Reagan's policy of peace through strength was making America less
safe.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Well, history has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and
President Ronald Reagan was right. (Applause.)

When former President Bush lead a coalition against Saddam Hussein to get
him out of Kuwait after he invaded Kuwait in 1991, Senator Kerry voted
against the use of force to liberate Kuwait.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

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

In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade Center,
Senator Kerry proposed massive cuts in America's intelligence budget -- so
massive that his colleague from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, voted against
it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Well, history has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and --
we've got to be fair about it -- Senator Kennedy was right. (Applause.)

During the last 20 years, in key moments of challenge and decision for
America, Senator Kerry has chosen the position of weakness and inaction.
With that record, he stands in opposition not just to me, but to the great
tradition of the Democratic Party. The party of Franklin Roosevelt, of
Harry Truman, of John Kennedy is rightly remembered for confidence and
resolve in times of crisis and in times of conflict. Senator Kerry has
turned his back on "pay any price" and "bear any burden." He has replaced
those commitments with "wait and see" and "cut and run."

Many Democrats in this country do not recognize their party anymore. Today,
I want to speak to every Democrat. If you believe that America should lead
with strength and purpose and confidence in our ideals, I would be honored
to have your support, and I'm asking for your vote. (Applause.)

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

THE PRESIDENT: When you're out -- when you're out rounding up the vote,
when you're getting people to go to the polls, like I know you're going to
do, remind them we have big differences as to how to best protect our
country and our families. In one of our debates, my opponent said that
America must pass a global test before we commit our troops.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: I know, you're probably thinking I made that up, but I was
standing right there pretty close to him when he said it. (Laughter.) I was
just as startled as you are. As far as I can tell, it means our country
must get permission from foreign capitals before we act. As President, I
will work with our friends, I will strengthen our alliances. But I will
never turn over national security decisions to leaders of other countries.
(Applause.)

In a recent interview, my opponent said that September the 11th didn't
change him much at all. Well, it changed me. It changed me a lot. It gave
me -- it caused me to think about how to protect America in a different way
from the past. I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers on September the
14th, 2001. It is a day I will never forget. I'll never forget the workers
in hard hats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it takes."
I will never forget the fellow who grabbed me by the arm. He looked me
right 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 best protect the American
people. I will never relent in the security of this country, whatever it
takes. (Applause.)

The second clear choice in this election concerns your family's budget.
When I ran for President four years ago, I pledged to lower taxes for the
American families. I kept my word. (Applause.) We doubled the child credit
to $1,000 per child, and that helps moms and dads. We reduced the marriage
penalty. Our tax code ought to encourage marriage, not penalize marriage.
(Applause.) We dropped the lowest bracket to 10 percent. We reduced income
taxes for everybody who pays income tax. And our economic recovery plan is
working.

Remember what we have been through. Six months prior to my arrival in
Washington, the stock market was in serious decline. That foretold a
recession. We had corporate scandals. And the attacks on America cost us
about a million jobs in the three months after September the 11th. But our
economic policies are working. Our economy is growing at rates as fast as
any in nearly 20 years. We've added 1.9 million new jobs in the last 13
months. (Applause.) The home ownership rate is at an all-time high in
America. (Applause.) More minority families own a home than ever before in
our nation's history. (Applause.) Florida's farmers and ranchers are making
a living.

The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. The small business sector of our
economy is thriving and doing well. The national unemployment rate is 5.4
percent. And the unemployment rate in the great state of Florida is 4.5
percent. (Applause.) This economy is strong and it is getting stronger.
(Applause.)

My opponent has a different plan for your budget -- he plans to take a big
chunk out of it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: He's been in the United States Senate for 20 years and he's
voted to raise taxes 98 times.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: That's five times for every year he's been in the Senate. I
would call that a predictable pattern -- a leading indicator. (Laughter.)
During the campaign, he's made some big promises, too. He's promised $2.2
trillion of new spending. That is trillion with a "T." That's a lot. That's
a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him how he's going to pay for it. He said,
well, he's just going to tax the rich. We've heard that before. There's a
problem with that. If you run up the top two brackets like he says it's
going to do, it raises between $600 billion and $800 billion. That is far
short of the $2.2 trillion. That's called a tax gap. Guess who usually gets
to fill the tax gap.

AUDIENCE: We do!

THE PRESIDENT: You do. But we're not going to let him tax you. We're going
to carry Florida and win next Tuesday. (Applause.)

The third choice -- the third choice in this election involves the quality
of life for our nation's families. A good education and quality health care
are important to America's families. As a candidate, I pledged to challenge
the soft bigotry of low expectations by reforming our public schools. I
kept my word. (Applause.) I signed the No Child Left Behind Act and proudly
so. It's a great piece of legislation. We increased federal funding for our
schools, particularly for the disadvantaged and special-ed kids and that's
important. But also what's important is to measure. We said, in return for
extra money show us whether our children can read and write and add and
subtract, because we believe every child can read and we believe every
school must teach. (Applause.)

You cannot solve a problem unless you diagnose the problem. We're now
diagnosing and solving problems all across America, particularly in states
like Florida because of your good Governor. We're closing an achievement
gap for minority students all across America, and we're not going to go
back to the old days of low expectations and mediocrity. (Applause.)

We'll continue to work to make health care more accessible and affordable.
We have a duty to take care of those who can't help themselves. That's why
I'm such a strong believer in community health centers, places where the
poor and the indigent can get good primary and preventative care. And I
believe -- and I know we must work with our governors and mayors to make
sure that the -- the program for children from low-income families is fully
subscribed so our children can get good health care.

But I also understand that most of the uninsured work for small businesses.
And we ought to allow small businesses to pool risk across jurisdictional
boundaries so they can buy insurance at the same discounts that big
companies are able to do. (Applause.) We'll expand health savings accounts
to help our families and small businesses. And to make sure health care is
available and affordable for families all across this country, we will do
something about the frivolous and junk lawsuits that are running good
doctors out of practice and running up the cost of your health care.
(Applause.)

We have a national problem when it comes to litigation. I have met too many
OB/GYNs, some from the state of Florida, that have been run out of their
practice because the lawsuits have caused their premiums to be too high.
And I have met too many expectant moms that are deeply concerned about the
quality of health care they're going to get for themselves and their child.
You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and pro-personal injury trial lawyer
at the same time. I think you have to make a choice. My opponent made his
choice. He's voted against medical liability reform ten times in the
Senate, and he put a personal injury trial lawyer on the ticket.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: I have made my choice. I'm standing with Florida's docs and
Florida's patients and Florida's families. I'm for medical liability reform
now. (Applause.)

We have a difference of opinion when it comes to health care. In one of
those debates, they asked my opponent about his health care plan and he
said the government doesn't have anything to do with it. I could barely
contain myself. The government has got a lot to do with it. Eighty percent
of the people would end up on a government plan. If you make it easier for
people to sign up for Medicaid, it is likely small businesses will stop
writing insurance for their employees because the government will. And that
moves people from the private sector to the government plans. And when the
government writes the checks, the government makes the rules. And when the
government makes the rules for your health care, the government starts
making decisions for you and decisions for your doctors. Federalizing
health care is the wrong prescription for America's families. (Applause.)

In all we do to improve health care, we'll make sure the decisions are made
by doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, D.C.

The fourth 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 to improve Medicare by adding prescription drug
coverage. I kept my word. (Applause.)

I told the Congress Medicare needed to be modernized. You know, Medicare
would pay thousands of dollars for a heart -- for heart surgery, but it
wouldn't pay one dime for the prescription drug that could prevent the
heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That didn't make any
sense. So I brought Republicans and Democrats together. We modernized
Medicare. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able to get
prescription drug coverage under Medicare. (Applause.)

We'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and we will
strengthen Social Security for generations to come. Every election,
politicians try to scare our seniors and say that they're not going to get
their checks if somebody like me gets elected. They said that in 2000. I
got elected, and the seniors got their checks. The seniors will always get
their checks. Baby boomers like me, and like some others I see out there --
(laughter) -- we'll get our checks. But we need to worry about our children
and our grandchildren. We need to worry about whether or not Social
Security will be there when they need it. And that is why I think younger
workers ought to be allowed to take some of their own payroll taxes and set
up a personal savings account, an account they call their own, an account
the government cannot take away. (Applause.)

My opponent and I take a different approach toward Social Security. He said
he's going to protect Social Security, but he forgot to tell the people
that he's voted eight times for higher taxes on Social Security benefits.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: He can run, but he cannot hide. (Applause.) And when it
comes to the next generation, he's offered no reform. The job of the
President is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents
and to future generations. In a new term I will bring people together to
strengthen Social Security for generations to come. (Applause.)

The fifth clear choice in this election is on the values that are important
for our country. We stand for marriage and family, which are the
foundations of this society. (Applause.) We stand for a culture of life, in
which every being counts. I proudly signed the ban on partial birth
abortions. (Applause.) We stand for the appointment of federal judges who
know the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation
of the law. (Applause.)

My opponent has a different point of view. He voted against the ban on
partial birth abortion.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: He voted against the Defense of Marriage Act.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: And at one time in his campaign, he said the heart and soul
of America can be found in Hollywood.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Most of our families don't look to Hollywood as a source of
values. The heart and soul of America is found in communities like Orlando,
Florida. (Applause.)

All these choices make this one of the most important elections in our
history, and the decision is in the best of hands. It is in the hands of
the American people. (Applause.)

I've got a clear view of where I want to take this country. I clearly see a
better tomorrow. One of my favorite quotes is by a fellow Texan named Tom
Lea. He said, "Sarah and I live on the east side of the mountain. It is the
sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the day that is
coming, not to see the day that is gone." In the course of this campaign,
my opponent has spent much of his time talking about the day that is gone.
I'm talking about the day that's coming. (Applause.)

I see a great day coming for America. I see a day where prosperity reaches
every corner of our country. I see a day in which every child can read and
write and add and subtract. And I see a day -- I see a day that after all
the struggle, peace comes, a peace we want for our children and our
grandchildren.

You know, when I campaigned across the state of Florida four years ago, I
made this pledge, that if I got 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.

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

END 8:32 P.M. EDT
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041030-12.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)