Text 3539, 498 rader
Skriven 2006-10-30 23:31:00 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (061030m) for Mon, 2006 Oct 30
====================================================

===========================================================================
Remarks by the President at the Texas Victory 2006 Rally
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 30, 2006

Remarks by the President at the Texas Victory 2006 Rally
Sugar Land Regional Airport
Sugar Land, Texas



5:04 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you. I always feel better
when I'm in Texas. (Applause.) Thanks for coming out. I'm honored you are
here. I appreciate you taking time out of your day.

I thank you for joining me and saying loud and clear to the people of the
22nd congressional district: Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is the right person to
serve you in the United States Congress. (Applause.) She served in public
office before -- you might remember, she was a member of the Houston City
Council, where she helped pass tax cuts. (Applause.) She's a doctor. She's
a doctor, where she's helped heal broken bodies. She is going -- she's a
mother who understands the importance of family values. She's the right
person to send to Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

If you'll give me a chance maybe to kind of serve as the secretary of state
for Texas for a second -- (laughter) -- for those who haven't been paying
attention to this election, yet want good government, you get to vote twice
-- (applause) -- for Shelly. You get to check her name in the special
election portion of the ballot, and then you get to write her name in. See,
if you want to send Shelly to the United States Congress, you're going to
have to take a pencil into the ballot box.

Now, you can bring a piece of paper with you that's got her name on it, so
you can copy it down on the ballot. So remember when you show up to vote on
November the 7th, bring your pencil, bring your paper and write Shelley's
name in for good government. (Applause.)

Laura sends her love. (Applause.) As President, I make a lot of decisions,
but the best decision I have made as a person is asking Laura to marry me.
(Applause.) Some of her friends are still wondering whether the best
decision she ever made was to say yes. (Laughter.) But I'm real proud of
her. She's a fantastic wife, a great mom, and a great First Lady for the
United States. (Applause.)

Speaking about great ladies, this state is fortunate to have Kay Bailey
Hutchison as the United States Senator. (Applause.) She is effective, she
is capable, she's all Texan. And it's important for this state to send her
back to the United States Senate with a strong, strong vote. (Applause.)

I appreciate Kevin Brady joining us. He's the congressman from over there.
(Laughter.) I know him well. He's a good one. And I want to thank my
friend, Commissioner Michael Williams, who's joined us today. (Applause.) I
want to thank all the statehouse folks that are sitting behind me. I
remember serving with them when I was their governor. A little different
here in Texas than it is in Washington. (Laughter.) These are good people,
and I appreciate them joining us.

I want to thank the Mayor, Mayor David Williams, right here from Sugar
Land, Texas, for joining us. (Applause.) I thank all the grassroots
activists who've joined us. I want to thank you for the job you're going to
do, and that is turn out your neighbors on November the 7th with a pencil
and a piece of paper, and tell them to write in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs to be
the next United States congresswoman. (Applause.)

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to sprinting to the finish
line. (Applause.) I'm looking forward to this campaign. I like campaigning.
I like getting out and about the people. I like telling them what's on my
mind. You know, what's interesting in Washington, some of the folks over
there are already picking out their new offices. (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: That's not the first time it's happened since I've been in
Washington. You might remember, in 2004, some of them were measuring the
drapes in the West Wing. (Laughter.) They had their office suites all
picked out. Except their problem was, the movers weren't needed. (Laughter
and applause.) And the same thing is going to happen this year. (Applause.)
We're going to elect Shelley, and we're going to control the House and the
United States Senate. (Applause.)

We've got a record to run on. We've done some things that are positive for
the United States of America. For decades, the public schools failed too
many children. And so we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which
demanded results in return for federal money. And now test scores are
rising, the achievement gap is beginning to close, and we're bringing
closer to the day when every single child in America gets their quality
education. (Applause.)

For decades, we've been growing too dependent on foreign oil. So we passed
a good energy bill that encourages conservation, additional production for
oil and gas in the United States. We're doing something else that's smart,
too: We're spending money on technology so that our automobiles will be
able to be running on crops grown right here in the state of Texas. We want
to be less dependent on foreign sources of oil. (Applause.)

For decades, Medicare was outdated, so we did something about it. We passed
landmark legislation that modernized the Medicare system. Today, 33 million
seniors have more choices and more access to affordable drugs, and because
of our action, poor seniors no longer have to choose between food and
medicine. (Applause.)

For decades, we hadn't had complete control over our southern border,
illegal immigration has been on the rise. So we acted. I sent the National
Guard down there to help the Border Patrol do their job. (Applause.) We're
adding thousands of new Border Patrol agents. We're modernizing this
border. We will reform our immigration system, and this country of ours
will inform our immigration laws. (Applause.)

For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court order.
I don't know if you've been following what happened in New Jersey recently
-- another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubts about the
institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a union between a man and a
woman and should be defended. (Applause.) And I believe I must continue to
appoint judges who will strictly interpret the law and not legislate from
the bench. (Applause.)

No, we got a strong record to run on. This country is better off because
John Roberts and Sam Alito are serving on the Supreme Court of the United
States. (Applause.) And I want to thank Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for
her strong support helping get those nominees on the floor of the Senate
and getting them confirmed as Supreme Court justices. (Applause.)

Now, there are big differences between the Democrats and the Republicans.
Perhaps the two biggest differences can be seen in this two issues: One,
which party is going to keep your taxes low to keep this economy growing;
and which party is going to take the necessary steps to protect the United
States of America? (Applause.)

Let me start with taxes. Shelley and I have a clear philosophy. We believe
that you know how to spend your money far better than the federal
government can. (Applause.) We believe that when you have more money in
your pocket to save, invest or spend, the economy benefits. (Applause.)

The Democrats want more of your money because they think they can spend it
better than you can.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Over the past five years, we've acted on our philosophy. In
other words, we just didn't go to Washington to talk. We went to Washington
to get a job done on your behalf. We passed the largest tax relief since
Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. (Applause.)

When you're out there rounding up votes, remind them of this record: We cut
taxes on everyone who pays income taxes; we doubled the child tax credit;
we reduced the marriage penalty; we substantially cut taxes on small
businesses; we cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to encourage
investment and jobs; and to reward family businesses and farmers, and
ranchers for a lifetime of work, we put the death tax on the road to
extinction. (Applause.)

I know Senator Hutchison and Congressman Brady remember the debate in
Washington. They remember those Democrats predicting that the tax cuts
would not create jobs, would not increase wages, and would increase the
federal deficit. Well, the facts are in. The truth is, the tax cuts have
led to a growing economy that has added 6.6 million new jobs since of
August of 2003. (Applause.) Real wages are on the rise, and we cut the
deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. (Applause.)

Around this country, a lot of people don't understand the Democrats'
position on taxes. So part of my job is to clarify matters, is to make it
clear their intentions. Part of the confusion comes about because the
leading lady in the Congress proclaimed this -- you're not going to believe
what she said, but she actually said this on TV the other -- she said,
about the Democrats: We love tax cuts. The problem is, given her record,
she must be a secret admirer. (Laughter and applause.)

She and her party voted against reducing the marriage penalty, voted
against cutting taxes on small businesses, voted against taxes -- lowering
taxes for families with children, voted against reducing taxes on capital
gains and dividends, voted against eliminating the death tax. That's their
record. Time and time again, when she had a chance to show her love for tax
cuts, she voted no.

My attitude is, if this is the Democrat's idea of love, I don't want to see
what hate looks like. (Laughter.)

Here's what happens: If we do not make the tax cuts we passed permanent or
extend the tax cuts, you'll get a tax increase. That's just the way it is.
You know, it's interesting, they asked the man who would be the chairman of
the House Ways and Means Committee -- the Democrat, who will be the
chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, if the Democrats were to take
over the House -- which they're not -- (applause.) But here's what he said
-- it's important for Americans to know the facts. Here's what he said. He
said, when asked about extending the tax cuts or making them permanent, he
said he couldn't think of one of the tax cuts he would extend. In other
words, what they're telling you is they're going to raise your taxes.

I want you to think about this. I want you to think about this. If the
child tax credit were to expire, your taxes will go up by $500 per child.
See, we increased the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000 per child. For
those of you with children, you know what I'm talking about. If that tax
cuts were to expire -- just like the man who wants to be the head of the
tax committee said -- your taxes per child go up $500. So when you're
eating dinner tonight and you're looking around the table, you can take the
number of children around your table and multiply it by $500, and that's
going to be part of the tax increase you have to pay.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: You take a family working hard to get ahead and they got
four children, they're looking at a $2,000 tax increase. That may not seem
like a lot to Democrats in Washington, D.C., but it seems like a lot to me.
And I know it's a lot for you. And the best way to make sure it doesn't
happen is to send Shelley to the United States Congress. (Applause.)

So when they're out there campaigning and somebody comes up and says, Shel,
tell me the difference between what the Republicans are going to do and the
Democrats, it's real easy, we're going to keep your taxes low, and they're
going to raise your taxes. And a tax increase would not only be bad for
your wallet, a tax increase would be bad for the economy of the United
States of America.

We're meeting in historic times. This election is happening during historic
times. And when our children and grandchildren look back at this period,
one question is going to overwhelm all the rest: Did we do everything in
our power to fight and win the war on terror? (Applause.)

We face an enemy that is brutal. They have an ideology. It's the opposite
of our ideology. We love freedom. They hate freedom. They will kill
innocent people to achieve their objectives. You cannot negotiate with
these radicals and extremists. You can't hope for the best with these
radicals and extremists. The only way to protect America, which is our most
important job, is to stay on the offense and bring them to justice before
they can hurt us again. (Applause.)

Our most important job is to protect you. I wish I didn't have to report
that there's an enemy still out there, but there is. And they want to
attack again. We have to be right a hundred percent of the time to protect
the American people, and they have to be right one time in order to achieve
their objectives. And that's why I put some tools in the hands of our
professionals so they could better do their job.

You know, when I -- right after 9/11 when we analyzed part of the problem,
there was a wall that existed between our intelligence-gathering people and
our law enforcement, and they couldn't share information. I know that's
hard for you to believe. But that's the way it was. So I asked Congress to
pass the Patriot Act, and thanks to senators like Kay Bailey Hutchison and
congressmen like Kevin Brady, we passed the Patriot Act. (Applause.)

In this different kind of war, we must understand what the enemy is
thinking in order to be able to protect you. And so, therefore, when we
found al Qaeda or al Qaeda affiliates making phone calls into the United
States, I thought it was important to understand why in order to protect
you. (Applause.)

We are picking up the enemy on the battlefield. And when we pick people who
understand what the plans are about attacks, we need to know what they're
thinking. See, this is a different kind of war. It requires pinpoint
intelligence, advanced knowledge in order for us to do our job. And so we
picked up people off the battlefield like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. You might
have heard of him. He was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, at least
that's what our intelligence people think. In other words, he was the --
they think he was the person that organized and ordered the attacks that
killed nearly 3,000 people on one day. I thought it was important to have
the CIA be in a position to question him, to find out what he knew in order
to protect America. (Applause.)

If anybody has any doubts about the differences of opinion in Washington,
D.C. between Republicans and Democrats, I want them to analyze the recent
votes that took place on these important programs. When it came time to
renew the Patriot Act, more than 75 percent of the House Democrats voted
against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: When it came time to vote on whether or not to allow the CIA
to continue its program to detain and question captured terrorists, more
than 80 percent of House Democrats voted against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: When it came time to vote on whether the National Security
Agency should continue to monitor communications that we think would be --
contain information that would protect you, more than 90 percent of the
House Democrats voted against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: In all these vital measures for fighting a war on terror,
the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say no.
(Laughter.) When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what's the
Democrats' answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, what's
the Democrat's answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: When it comes to questioning terrorists, what's the
Democrat's answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: When it comes to trying terrorists, what's the Democrat's
answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: And so when the Democrats ask for your vote on November 7th,
what's your answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no! (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: No doubt in my mind, I can count on Shelley Sekula-Gibbs to
make sure that our professionals have the tools necessary to protect you in
this dangerous world. But the best way to protect you, the best way to make
sure that an enemy is unable to do us harm, is to stay on the offense and
keep the enemy on the run. It is hard to plot, plan, and attack when you're
on the run. (Applause.)

And that's precisely what we're doing. I can't tell you how honored I am to
be a Commander-in-Chief of a military full of decent and honorable
Americans who have volunteered to protect this country. (Applause.) And one
of the things that I make a pledge to the families of those who wear our
uniform is that we'll continue to make sure our troops have all that is
necessary to be able to do the job that I have asked them to do. And I know
that Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will be a strong and steady vote
for the men and women of the United States military. (Applause.)

One of the lessons of September the 11th is that this nation must take
threats seriously, before they come home to hurt us. We must take every
threat we see overseas very seriously. Otherwise, if we don't, there's an
enemy that lurks and intends to hit us again. I saw a threat in Saddam
Hussein. Members of the both political parties saw a threat in Saddam
Hussein. The United Nations saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I made the
right decision to get Saddam Hussein out of power. (Applause.)

We're in a global struggle against these killers. And the war is fought on
many fronts. But right now the central front in this war on terror is Iraq.
Oh, I hear them in Washington say Iraq is a distraction from the war on
terror. Well, they shouldn't take my word for it, they should take the word
of Osama bin Laden, who has said that the fight in Iraq is the third world
war. He said victory for the terrorists in Iraq will mean America's defeat
and disgrace forever. That is what the enemy has said. It's important for
all Americans to listen carefully to the words of the people who would do
us harm.

Now I want you to listen to the words of a senior Democrat in the House of
Representatives, one of the leaders. She said, the President says that
fighting them there -- she's talking about Iraq -- makes it less likely we
will have to fight them

here. This is exactly what I've said. She went on to say, the opposite is
true; because we're fighting them there, it may become more likely we will
have to fight them here.

Here's what the person doesn't understand: Iraq is not the reason the
terrorists are in the war against us. I would remind the House Democrat,
our troops were not in Iraq when the terrorists first attacked the World
Trade Center in 1993. (Applause.) We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our
embassies in Kenya or Tanzania, or blew up the USS Cole. (Applause.) And we
were not in Iraq when they killed nearly 3,000 on September the 11th, 2001.
We do not create terrorists by fighting the terrorists. The best way to
protect you is to stay on the offense and bring the terrorists to justice
wherever we find them. (Applause.)

Our goal in Iraq is clear: It's victory. We want to help this young
democracy grow so it can sustain itself, and govern itself, and defend
itself, and become an ally in the war on terror. And the fighting is tough.
I know it's tough, and you know it's tough. It's tough because we fight an
enemy that has no conscience. We fight an enemy that can't stand the
thought of a free society. We fight an enemy whose ideology is the opposite
of our ideology.

The enemy killed innocent men, women, and children. They filmed the
atrocities, and they broadcast them for the world to see. Our enemies hope
these violence images will cause us to lose our nerve and pull out before
the job is done. They don't understand the United States of America. We
will not run from thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

I'll make sure our commanders have what they need to complete this job. If
they want more troops, they get more troops. If they want less troops, they
get less troops. They are flexible. We are constantly adjusting our tactics
to meet the tactics of the enemy.

We got another asset going for us beside our military -- and these are
brave Iraqis. They have suffered unspeakable violence. Yet they're
committed to a free society. They're committed to reject the extremists and
radicals who try to overturn their will. They voted, nearly 12 million
people, to say we want to be free. It's in the United States' interest to
help them succeed. It's in our interest to defeat the radicals. It's in our
interest to defeat the extremists. The only way we won't succeed in Iraq is
by leaving before the job is done. (Applause.)

You listen to the debate about Iraq, the Democrat plan for success -- well,
they don't have a plan for success. (Laughter.) It's a serious political
party in the midst of a war, and they have no plan for success. They don't
even have a plan for victory. (Laughter.) Last week one Democrat senator
described her party's position: We haven't coalesced around a single plan,
but we're in general agreement on the basic principles. She's right -- the
only principle about which they can agree is get out before the job is
done.

You know, they put it different ways. Some say, immediate redeployment.
Some say they wouldn't spend another dime on our troops in Iraq. Some say
that the idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that
unfortunately is just plain wrong. Well, however they put it, their
approach comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal
is to win in Iraq. (Applause.)

I'm not saying that these Democrats are unpatriotic, I'm just saying
they're wrong. (Applause.) You can't win a war unless you're willing to
fight the war. (Applause.) Retreat from Iraq before the job was done would
embolden an enemy and make this country more vulnerable to attack; would
allow the terrorists to gain a new safe haven, which is precisely what they
said is part of their plan in Iraq. And why do they want a safe haven? They
want a safe haven like they had in Afghanistan, so they can launch further
attacks.

Retreat from Iraq would strengthen the hands of these radicals and
extremists and enable them to recruit better. Retreat from Iraq before the
job was done would dishonor the sacrifice of the men and women who have
worn the uniform of the United States of America in Iraq to protect us.
(Applause.) The consequences of failure in Iraq would be felt for
generations.

You see, the enemy has clearly stated they want us to retreat. They want to
topple moderate governments. They want their extremism to become the
philosophy of a governing structure that stretches from Indonesia to Spain.
It's called a caliphate. That's what they've said. Imagine a Middle East in
which violent forms of extremists compete for power, moderate governments
are overturned, oil-rich states are controlled by the radicals who will use
the energy to create blackmail for the United States, and in the midst a
country with a nuclear weapon that can't stand us -- 30 years from now, if
that were to happen, people will look back and they'll say, what happened
to that generation in 2006; how come they couldn't see the impending
danger; how come they couldn't see the threat?

I want you to know I see the threat. That is why we will support our
troops, we will fight, and we will win in Iraq. (Applause.)

We've got another powerful tool at our disposal, and it's called freedom. I
would like to share a story with you about a recent experience I had. Well,
it's when I went down to Elvis's place. (Laughter.)

You might remember my guest was the then sitting Prime Minister of Japan.
Laura said, why you going down there? I said, because I never been.
(Laughter.) By the way, she decided to come, too. Prime minister Koizumi
wanted to go because he loved Elvis.

But I wanted to tell a story to the American people about the power of
liberty, and I want to share it with you right quick. You see, after the
Japanese attacked America, where more people -- by the way, more people
died on September the 11th than the attack of Pearl Harbor. When they
attacked, a lot of brave Americans, including one George H.W. Bush,
volunteered to defend America. (Applause.)

I bet a lot of folks out here had relatives who did the same thing. They
said, I volunteer -- I volunteer to protect this country against a mortal
enemy. I'm flying down on Air Force One with the Prime Minister of the
sworn -- the country that used to be our sworn enemy, talking about keeping
the peace. I was talking to him about the fact that Iraq had a thousand
troops -- I mean, Japan had a thousand troops in Iraq because he knows what
I know: In this ideological struggle, when we find young democracies, which
will serve as a major defeat for ideologues who hate, that we got to
support them. We talked about convincing the leader of North Korea to give
up his nuclear weapon for the sake of peace.

In other words, we were talking about peace. Isn't it interesting, my dad
fought the Japanese as a sworn enemy; his son is sitting down with the
leader of that country talking about peace. (Applause.) Let me tell you
something, liberty -- liberty has got the capacity to change an enemy into
an ally. And liberty has got the capacity to change a region of the world
that is so desperate for freedom into a place of peace. Some day an
American President will be sitting down with duly elected leaders from the
Middle East talking about the peace. And a generation of Americans will be
better off. (Applause.)

So these are the stakes in this election, and I thank you for giving me a
chance to come out and urge you on, to urge you to go to the polls and to
take your friends. Find Republicans, discerning Democrats, discerning
independents and remind them, if you want more money in your pocket, vote
Republican. And if you want a party who will take the steps necessary to
protect you today and to protect a generation of Americans coming up, vote
for Shelley and vote for Republicans.

God bless. God bless America. (Applause.)

END 5:38 P.M. CST

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061030-22.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)