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Skriven 2004-10-30 23:37:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (041030e) for Sat, 2004 Oct 30
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Remarks by the Vice President at a Victory 2004 Rally - Zanesville, Ohio
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
October 30, 2004

Remarks by the Vice President at a Victory 2004 Rally - Zanesville, Ohio



October 30, 2004

REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT

AT A VICTORY 2004 RALLY

Hallowed Hills Conference Center

Zanesville, Ohio

3:22 P.M. EDT

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you for that
warm welcome.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Lynne.

MRS. CHENEY: Oh, I like that.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: What about me? (Laughter.) Well, we're delighted to be
back in the Buckeye State. It looks like Bush-Cheney country to me.
(Applause.)

And, true, Lynne has known me since I was 14 years old. She wouldn't go out
with me until I was 17. (Laughter.) But I like to tell people we got
married because Dwight Eisenhower got elected President of the United
States. (Laughter.) Because in those years I was a youngster living in
Nebraska with the folks. Eisenhower got elected; Dad worked for the
government, the government was reorganized. We were moved to Casper,
Wyoming, and that's where I met Lynne. And we grew up together, and went to
high school together. And recently -- (applause) -- and recently celebrated
our 40th wedding anniversary. (Applause.) I explained to a group the other
night that if it hadn't been for Eisenhower's victory, Lynne would have
married somebody else. (Laughter.) And she said, right, and now he'd be
Vice President of the United States. (Laughter.)

Well, we're delighted to be in Ohio. I notice Senator Kerry was here last
week, I guess, goose hunting.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I noticed he had a new camouflage jacket for the
occasion -- (laughter) -- which made me wonder how often he'd been goose
hunting before. (Laughter.) My personal opinion is his camo jacket is just
an October disguise. (Laughter.) That he's making an effort to try to hide
the fact that he votes against gun owners every chance he gets. But, my
fellow sportsmen, this cover-up isn't going to work because you and I know
the Second Amendment is more than just a photo opportunity. (Applause.)

In my family, we claim Ohio roots because my great grandfather came from
Defiance, Ohio, and served with an Ohio regiment, the 21st Ohio throughout
the Civil War. And then my grandfather was born in Defiance, and then in
the 1880s, he took the whole family West. And that's how they got to
Nebraska and eventually on to Wyoming. So we claim Ohio roots. (Applause.)
And it seems to me you all would want to send a home boy back to the White
House. (Applause.)

With three days left in the campaign, the choice in this election couldn't
be more clear. And the stakes are very high, both at home and abroad. And I
believe on November 2nd, the American people are going to make George W.
Bush President for four more years. (Applause.)

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: The President, of course, was in Toledo and Columbus
yesterday -- a lot of rich history in Zanesville, as well, the former state
capital. The President and I have a great feeling about this state because
we're going to carry Ohio on Election Day. (Applause.)

The President and I are delighted to be part of a strong Republican ticket
in Ohio this year. I want to thank your Congressman, Bob Ney, for his kind
words, and for joining us today. He does a superb job for everybody here.
(Applause.) And of course, George Voinovich is up for reelection to the
Senate. And although he's not here today, I look forward to working with
him for another term in the United States Senate when he's reelected. And I
want to mention two other superb Ohio leaders who couldn't join us ?-
Senator Mike DeWine and Bob Taft, your Governor. The President and I are
fine to work with so many outstanding officials from Ohio. (Applause.)

Finally, I want thank everyone who have helped in the campaign, who have
made phone calls, put up yard signs, and all that hard work at the
grassroots level that will be absolutely key to our victory. We're grateful
for your support. (Applause.)

Ohio voters understand the importance of steady, principled, consistent
leadership in the White House. This is no ordinary time for America. We've
all seen the tape now from Osama bin Laden. It's a reminder that we are
engaged in a global war on terror. This is a conflict we did not choose,
but it is one that we will win. (Applause.)

Today, people in Ohio and across the land can be confident of a better
future, a stronger economy, and a nation that is more secure because of the
leadership of our President, George W. Bush. (Applause.)

Over the course of the last four years, I think people have seen very
clearly the character and the vision of our President. He's a man of
loyalty and kindness who speaks plainly and means what he says. He sets
clear goals, and works with members of both parties to achieve them. He
puts the country first and his deepest commitment is to making us safer,
more prosperous, and more secure. (Applause.)

During the course of this campaign, we've seen something quite different in
the President's opponent. He is a man who will say and do anything if he
thinks it will advance his cause. Just over a year ago, John Kerry did
something truly unthinkable for a man who aspires to be Commander-in-Chief;
he turned his back on the troops that he had voted earlier to send into
combat because he thought--

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He thought it was to his political advantage to do so.

Senator Kerry, you remember, voted in favor of using force against Saddam
Hussein, but then during the Democratic primary when it came time to vote
for funds that would provide our fighting men and women with body armor,
ammunition, jet fuel, and spare parts, Senator Kerry voted "no."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Don't hold back. It's all right.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He offered a ridiculous explanation which, frankly, I
think will go down in the history of American politics. He said, and I
quote, "I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: But the real reason he turned his back on the troops
was Howard Dean. Dean was the antiwar candidate; Dean was surging ahead in
the polls; and so John Kerry in order to advance himself as an antiwar
candidate in the primaries, turned his back on the troops. He said his vote
was "complicated," but, my friends, supporting American troops in combat
should never be a complicated matter. (Applause.)

John Kerry will say and do anything in order to get elected. He will attack
the Patriot Act -- after he voted for it. He will attack the No Child Left
Behind Act -- after he voted for it. He will try to scare young people by
raising the specter of the draft ?- when he knows that the only people who
have supported the idea of bringing back the draft are two members of his
own party. Nobody but a couple of Democrats wants to change the
all-volunteer force because it is the finest military the world has ever
known. (Applause.)

John Kerry will say and do anything to get elected. America's military men
and women have liberated 50 million people in the last three years.
(Applause.) In Afghanistan, they managed to do it in two months -- what
Soviet forces could not do in 10 years. (Applause.) In Iraq, they toppled
the regime of Saddam Hussein in just three weeks. (Applause.) But instead
of praising their achievement, John Kerry harps away at phony charges. He
says we didn't put sufficient emphasis on destroying weapons in Iraq when,
in fact, our troops have seized and are destroying 400,000 tons of
munitions in that country. (Applause.)

He says that we took our eye off the ball at Tora Bora a charge that
General Tommy Franks, who commanded or forces, has totally refuted. Given a
choice between John Kerry opinion and that of General Tommy Franks, I'll go
with the General every time. (Applause.)

The campaigns our fighting men and women conducted to overthrow regimes in
Afghanistan and Iraq will be studied for years for their speed and
innovation, and that ought to be acknowledged. Moreover, our forces deserve
our wholehearted support as they aid the efforts of the Afghan and Iraqi
people to establish representative governments. This is tough work being
conducted against vicious foes who want to see freedom fail. But look at
what has been accomplished. In Afghanistan, 10 million people registered to
vote, nearly half of them women. And three weeks ago today, for the first
in its 5,000-year history free elections were held in Afghanistan.
(Applause.)

In January, the people of Iraq will vote, as well. And we'll be safer as a
result. One of the lessons history teaches is that institutions of
self-government turn the energies of people away from violence to the
peaceful work of building better lives. Freedom is the best antidote for
terrorism. (Applause.)

John Kerry has spent a lot of time in this campaign playing armchair
general, and he's not very at it. (Laughter.) This shouldn't surprise us
given his weak record on national security. He first ran for Congress
advocating the idea we should deploy American troops only under the
authority of the United Nations.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He ran for the Senate on the platform that he should
dismantle most of the major weapons systems Ronald Reagan used to keep the
peace and win the Cold War.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: In 1991, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and stood
poised to dominate the Persian Gulf, John Kerry voted against Operation
Desert Storm.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: In the first debate this year, Senator Kerry said
America had to meet some kind of global test before we could take military
action.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: The President and I know better than that. We know that
it is not our job to conduct international opinion polls, our job is to
defend America. (Applause.)

Now in the closing days of this campaign, John Kerry is trying every which
way to cover up his record of weakness on national defense. But he can't do
it. It won't work. As we like to say in Wyoming, you can put all the
lipstick you want on a pig but at the end of the day, it's still a pig.
(Laughter and applause.) That's my favorite line. (Laughter.) Want to hear
it again?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: As we say in Wyoming -- (laughter) -- you can put all
the lipstick you want on a pig, but at the end of the day, it's still a
pig. (Applause.)

John Kerry does not have the judgment or the conviction that America needs
in a President. He is not a steadfast leader. Our President is.

AUDIENCE: Yes!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And let me tell you why that matters. A country can
never know what a President will be called upon to do. Just think of the
last four years; think of the challenges of 9/11 and the global war on
terror, and because our President is a man of strong character and
steadfast determination, he's led us very well. (Applause.)

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: At the Republican Convention in New York you remember
former Mayor Giuliani told the story about how on 9/11 he turned to Bernie
Kerik, his police commissioner, and said, Thank God, George Bush is our
Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)

Under the President's leadership, we have reached around the world to
capture and kill thousands of al Qaeda. In Afghanistan, the camps where
terrorists trained to kill Americans have been shut down, the Taliban
driven from power. In Iraq, we dealt with a gathering threat and removed
the regime of Saddam Hussein. Nineteen months ago, he controlled the lives
of 25 million people. Today, he sits in jail. (Applause.)

Because of President Bush's determination in the war on terror, leaders
around the world are getting the message. Just five days after Saddam
Hussein was captured, Moammar Ghadafi in Libya agreed to abandon his
nuclear weapons program and turn the materials over to the U.S. (Applause.)

The biggest danger we face today is having nuclear weapons technology fall
into the hands of terrorists. The President is working with many countries
in a global effort to end the trade and transfer of these deadly
technologies. The most important result thus far is that the black-market
network that supplied nuclear weapons technology to Libya, as well as to
Iran and North Korea, has been shut down. And the world is safer as a
result. (Applause.)

We could not have succeeded in these efforts without the help of dozens of
countries around the world. We will always seek international support for
international efforts, but as President Bush has made very clear, there is
a difference between leading a coalition of many nations and submitting to
the objections of a few. We will never seek a permission slip to defend the
United States of America. (Applause.)

The clearest, most important difference in this campaign is simple to
state: President Bush understands the war on terror and has a strategy for
winning it; John Kerry does not. (Applause.)

All doubt on that matter was removed when Senator Kerry recently said he
that wanted to lead America back to the place where we were -- to a time
when terrorism was, in his word, a "nuisance."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Like illegal gambling or prostitution. That's the
comparison he made.

When I read that, I thought to myself, when was terrorism only a nuisance?
Was it a nuisance four years ago, when the USS Cole was attacked and nearly
sunk and we lost 17 of sailors? Was it a nuisance six years ago when they
attacked simultaneously two of our embassies in East Africa and killed
hundreds of people?

AUDIENCE: No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Was terrorism just a nuisance 11 years ago when the
World Trade Center in New York was first bombed?

AUDIENCE: No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Or 16 years ago when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of
the skies over Lockerbie Scotland?

AUDIENCE: No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Or maybe 21 years ago, when a suicide bomber in a truck
loaded with explosives drove into a barracks in Beirut and killed 241
Marines?

AUDIENCE: No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: My friends, there never was a time when terrorism was
just a nuisance. (Applause.) There never can be a time when terrorism is
just a nuisance. Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level.
Our goal is to defeat terror, and with George Bush as President, that's
exactly what we will do. (Applause.)

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: These are not times for leaders who shift with the
political winds; or who fail to understand the nature of the struggle we're
in. Our troops, our allies, and our adversaries must know where America
stands. The President of the United States must be clear and consistent. In
his years in Washington, John Kerry has been one of a hundred votes in the
United States Senate -? and fortunately on matters of national security,
his views rarely prevail. But the presidency is an entirely different
proposition. A senator can be wrong for 20 years, without consequence to
the nation. But a President -- a President -- always casts the deciding
vote. And in this time of challenge, America needs ?- and America has ?- a
President we can count on to get it right. (Applause.)

President Bush knows that our dedicated servicemen and women represent the
very best of the United States of America. (Applause.) I want to thank
them, their families, and all of the veterans with us here today for what
they've done for all of us. (Applause.)

Our country requires strong and consistent leadership for our actions
overseas, and the same is true for our policies here at home. When
President Bush and I stood on the inaugural platform on the west front of
the Capitol and took the oath of office, our economy was sliding into
recession. Then terrorists struck on 9/11 and shook our economy once again.
We faced a basic decision -? to leave more money with families and
businesses, or to take more of the American people's hard-earned money for
the federal government. President Bush made his choice. He proposed and he
delivered tax cuts for the American people not once, not twice, but four
times in four years. (Applause.)

Every American who pays federal income taxes benefited from the Bush tax
cuts -? so has our economy. We've created jobs for 13 consecutive months ?-
a total of over 1.9 million new jobs during that period. Mortgage rates,
interest rates, inflation are all low. Consumers are confident; businesses
are investing; and families are taking home more of what they earn.
(Applause.)

We're seeing record exports for farm products. Farm income is up. And our
farm economy is strong and that's good for the entire nation. (Applause.)

We know there are still challenges, especially in our manufacturing
communities. The President and I will not be satisfied until every American
who wants to work can find a job. Our growing economy is a changing
economy. And we're going to expand job training to help people find new
opportunities. We're also investing in our fine community colleges so they
can prepare more citizens for the jobs of the 21st century. The President
and I stand with America's workers. Our accomplishments these past four
years have made America safer, stronger, and better. (Applause.)

In our second term, we'll keep moving forward with a pro-growth, pro-jobs
agenda. We'll work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. And to help
families and small businesses, we'll lead a bipartisan effort to reform and
simplify the federal tax code. (Applause.)

We will work to end lawsuit abuse. We know it's a lot easier for America's
businesses to hire workers if they don't have to keep hiring lawyers.
(Applause.)

We'll continue to work to help parents and teachers improve our public
schools so that all our children receive the world-class education they
deserve. (Applause.) We'll work to make it easier for small businesses to
provide health insurance to employees for families to meet their health
care needs ?- and we'll do this in ways that keep health decisions in the
hands of doctors and patients, not bureaucrats in Washington. (Applause.)

We'll work for medical liability reform because we know the cost of
malpractice insurance is creating a crisis, not only in Ohio, but across
the nation. America's doctors should be able to spend their time healing
patients, not fighting off frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.)

President Bush and I will also continue to defend our society's fundamental
rights and values. We stand for a culture of life and reject the brutal
practice of partial birth abortion. (Applause.) We stand strongly for the
Second Amendment and will defend the individual right of every American to
bear arms. (Applause.) We believe that our nation is "one nation under
God." (Applause.)

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And we believe Americans ought to be able to say so
when we pledge allegiance to the flag. (Applause.)

There shouldn't be any question about this ?- and there wouldn't be if we
had more reasonable judges on the federal bench. (Applause.) The Democrats
in the Senate have been doing everything they can -? including using the
filibuster -? to keep the President's sensible, mainstream nominees off the
bench. They are hoping to wait the President out. But I've got news for
them. That's not going to happen because we're going to win this election.
(Applause.)

My friends, the differences between the President and his opponent are as
sharp as they can possibly be, and the consequences are enormous for the
nation. On vital matters of national security, Senator Kerry offers a
record of weakness and a strategy of retreat. President Bush offers a
record of steady purpose, and resolute action, and a strategy for victory.
(Applause.) Senator Kerry wants to empower government; President Bush will
empower the citizens of this great land. (Applause.) John Kerry seems to
think that all wisdom is found in Washington, D.C. (Laughter.) George Bush
trusts the wisdom of the American people. (Applause.)

Under President Bush's leadership, we'll use America's great power to serve
great purposes, to protect our homeland by turning back and defeating the
forces of terror, and to spread hope and freedom around the world. Here at
home, we'll continue building a prosperity that reaches every corner of the
land so that every child in America has a chance to learn, to succeed, and
to rise in the world. (Applause.)

The President and I are honored by your commitment to the cause we all
share. President Bush and I will wage this effort with complete confidence
in the American people. The signs are good -? here in Ohio, and even in
Massachusetts. (Applause.)

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I've still got a couple good lines left, okay?
(Laughter.)

According to a news account, people leaving the Democratic National
Convention in July asked a Boston policeman for directions. He replied,
Leave here ?- and go vote Republican. (Applause.)

President Bush and I are honored to have the support of that police officer
-- (laughter) -- and of Democrats, Republicans, and independents from every
calling in American life. We're grateful to our many friends across the
great state of Ohio. I want to thank you for the tremendous welcome this
afternoon. We're proud to have you on the team. (Applause.) And together,
next Tuesday, we'll see our cause forward to victory.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END 3:50 P.M. EDT
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