For Immediate Release Office of the
Press Secretary October 22, 2002
Remarks by the President at Bangor, Maine Welcome
Bangor International Airport Bangor, Maine
3:26 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks a lot for coming. Thank you all.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, George. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I'm glad I came. Thank you. (Applause.)
Congressman, thank you for that kind introduction. (Applause.)
I'm here for a couple of reasons. One, I always like to come to
Maine. (Applause.) Sometimes I come to get instructions from my
mother. (Laughter.) Every time I've come, I've enjoyed being here.
It's a beautiful place. I thank you for your hospitality. I thank
you all for coming out. I thank you for your deep concern for our
country and thanks for your participation in the political process.
(Applause.)
I'm here because there's no question in my mind, Kevin Raye will
make a great United States congressman. (Applause.) I'm here because
I have learned a lot about Susan Collins. There is no doubt in my
mind, she is a great United States Senator. And for the sake of
Maine and for the sake of the United States, you need to send her
back to the Senate. (Applause.) I'm here because I firmly believe
that Peter Cianchette will make a great governor for Maine.
I am here because I want to talk about how we can work together
to make America a safer, a stronger and a better country. I mean a
safer and stronger and better country for Republicans, for
Democrats, for people who don't give a hoot about politics.
(Applause.)
First, I want to apologize and tell you, you drew the short straw
-- Laura was tied up. (Laughter.) So you got stuck with me. I want
to tell you, she's doing great. Many of you have -- some of you have
told me, I bet many of you feel this way, that you say prayers for
Laura and me and the family. I want to thank you from the bottom of
our heart for that. (Applause.) It means a lot. And we're doing
well.
You know, when I married Laura she was a public school librarian.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh, yeah!
THE PRESIDENT: There's always one in every crowd. (Laughter.) A
special breed, I might add. She didn't like politics, wasn't too
keen on politicians either. (Laughter.) Now here she is, the First
Lady of the United States, and a fabulous one at that. (Applause.)
She's calm, she's steady, she's got a great smile. She cares deeply
about our children. The people of the country now understand why I
asked her to marry me. A lot of them are wondering why she said yes.
(Laughter.)
But she sends her best, as do I, as do I to not only Susan
Collins, but to a really fine lady who represents Maine, a United
States Senator who's got a lot of class, a lot of wisdom, a lot of
power, somebody with whom I enjoy working, somebody who is making a
difference for America, and that is Olympia Snowe. (Applause.)
We've got a man up here who wants to be one of my mother and
dad's congressmen. He's got him one in Houston, and he's got one in
Maine, and he hopes to have a new one. And the guy's name is Steven
Joyce, running for the U.S. Congress. (Applause.) My only advice,
Steven, is that when you win, you make sure you answer their mail.
(Applause.)
I'm so proud to be here with Kathy Watson, who is the Chairman of
the Republican Party for Maine. (Applause.) Jane Staples, who is the
national committeewoman for Maine. I want to thank our high school
choir and high school band who are here today. (Applause.)
But most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. I want to
thank the grassroots activists who are here. I want to thank the
people who take time, who work hard to make sure that the democracy
is strong. I want to thank you very much for your efforts on behalf
of all candidates. I want to thank you for what you have done, I
want to thank you for what you're going to do, and that is to turn
out the votes for these candidates on November 5th. (Applause.)
When I say that I understand Susan Collins -- I do. I've worked
closely with her. I've worked with her on key issues that face the
country. There was no stronger supporter for the No Child Left
Behind Act than Susan Collins. You see, we passed a meaningful piece
of education reform. I want to describe to you right quick the key
ingredients on this piece of legislation, and you'll understand why
I'm so proud of the work that she did, along with Olympia.
First of all, the bill challenges what I call the soft bigotry of
low expectations. You see, what we understand is if you have low
standards and low expectations, you're going to get lousy results in
our schools. We must have a system that sets the highest of high
standards. You must believe every child can learn. But also we
believe you've got to trust the local people. See, we understand the
people of Maine are more competent in charting the path for
excellence than the people in Washington, D.C. are for the Maine
children. (Applause.)
One of the key components of the No Child Left Behind legislation
is what we call the Reading First initiative. Susan Collins was
instrumental in helping to write that part of the law. It tripled
the amount of money available for reading programs. But, as
importantly, it said we must base our reading programs on what
works, not what sounds good; that there is a science to teaching
children how to read; and that all across the country we must
dedicate ourselves to making sure that we challenge that soft
bigotry of low expectations by insisting that every single child in
America becomes a good reader.
I thank Susan Collins for her leadership on that issue.
(Applause.) Not only -- not only -- not only did we insist upon high
standards and local control of schools, we increased the amount of
money available for education, the largest expenditure of federal
dollars and education ever. There's $200 million of federal monies
coming to Maine this year.
But we also said, in return for receiving this new money, we
expect you to deliver results. In return for money, we want to know
whether or not our children are learning to read and write and add
and subtract. And when we find out they are, we'll praise the
teachers. And for those of you who are teachers out there, thank
you, on behalf of our collective hearts. It's a noble profession.
(Applause.)
But the reason we have demanded accountability is because we want
no child left behind. When we find our children trapped in schools
which will not teach, and schools which will not change, we better
have the courage to challenge the status quo. Every child counts in
America, and no child should be left behind. (Applause.)
Now, I appreciate Susan a lot. She has delivered on behalf of
Maine and she has delivered on behalf of the country. I also
appreciate her working on Medicare. You see, medicine has changed
and Medicare hadn't. Medicare is modern -- medicine is modern and
Medicare is stuck in the past. It needs to be changed. We need to
make sure there is a prescription drug program for our seniors.
Susan Collins can get the job done on behalf of Maine, people in
Maine. (Applause.)
I like to say when you find a good one, you've got to send them
back to office, and you've found a good one in Susan Collins. I'm
proud to call her friend, and I hope you're proud to call her United
States senator. (Applause.)
I'm also proud to be here for Kevin Raye. (Applause.) He's going
to make a fine congressman -- if for no other reason than he worked
for Olympia Snowe for all these years. (Applause.)
I appreciate his strong principles. I appreciate his good
judgment. I appreciate his independent spirit. I appreciate his
common sense. I look forward to working with him on doing what's
right for Maine, and doing what's right for America. (Applause.)
He knows what I know, there's too much name calling in
Washington, D.C.; there's too much finger-pointing. There's too much
zero-sum politics. This is a man who's going to bring dignity to the
office. He'll work with both Republicans and Democrats to get the
job done. He's no-nonsense. He's also clear-eyed. He understands the
threat the United States faces. He's not going to be one of these
folks that is naive about the threats we face. I need somebody in
Congress with whom I can work to make sure that we do the job of
keeping America safe and strong, and that person is Congressman
Kevin Raye. (Applause.)
And finally, you'd better get you a governor with whom we can
work on this education reform. (Applause.) Somebody who's got one
special interest in mind, and that's the children -- somebody who
cares deeply about the children of the state, and that governor is
going to be Peter Cianchette. (Applause.)
He knows what I know -- education is to a state what national
defense is to the federal government. The number one priority of any
governor must be the education of every single child. I know he will
challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I know he'll work
with the teachers. I know he believes in local control of schools. I
know he'll work with parents. And most importantly, I know he'll
challenge failure when he finds it. Every child matters to Peter,
and no child will be left behind. (Applause.)
No, I want to thank you all for coming today, to give me a chance
to tout these candidates. Again, I urge you to make sure you work
hard to turn out the vote. They're counting on you. They're counting
on you to go to the coffee shops, they're counting on you to go to
the community centers, they're counting on you to talk it up. And
make sure when you talk it up, just don't talk it up to Republicans.
There's a lot of Democrats who are wise enough to vote for these
candidates. And make sure you talk it up with independents, and
people who don't care. Turn them out to the polls. It's an important
election, and we need these candidates to win. (Applause.)
We've got some big challenges ahead of this country. That's why
I've taken a keen interest in these elections. I look forward to
having a Congress with which I can work to meet the challenges
facing America. And we've got some big challenges. It doesn't matter
how big they are, as far as I'm concerned, though. See, there's
nothing we can't accomplish in this country. This is the greatest
country on the -- finest country on the face of the Earth.
(Applause.) No doubt in my mind.
One of the challenges we have is to make sure people can find
work. Any time somebody is looking for a job and can't find work
means we've got a problem. The foundations for growth are strong --
interest rates low, inflations is low, we've got the highest
productivity in the world amongst our workers and our farmers and
our ranchers. No, we're strong in America. But still too many people
can't find a job. So I look forward to working with Congress to
expand jobs opportunities.
And there's some things we can do, starting with making sure
people have got more money in their pocket. See, here's the textbook
I've read from. It says, if you let a man or woman have more of her
own money or his own money, they're going to demand a good or a
service. And when they demand a good or a service in the
marketplace, somebody is going to produce the good or service. And
when somebody produces that good or service, somebody is more likely
to find work. That tax relief plan we passed was good for the
American economy. (Applause.)
As a matter of fact, over the next 10 years, that tax relief plan
will mean over $5 billion for Maine residents. That's $5 billion
additional of your own money that you will be able to choose how to
spend -- $5 billion that you can use to invigorate the economy.
But the problem is, some in Washington don't see it that way.
Some in Washington want this tax relief plan not to be permanent.
Some in Washington want this tax relief plan to go away. It doesn't
make any sense. Either you trust the government, or you trust the
people. We trust the people. (Applause.)
I look forward to working with Congress to make sure we get a
terrorism insurance package that rewards hard-hats and not trial
lawyers; that gets our construction people back to work. I look
forward to having an energy bill which encourages alternative uses,
renewables, increased conservation, but at the same time makes us
less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil. (Applause.)
I look forward to working with people like Susan and Olympia and
Kevin, who understand that when they talk it up in Washington, they
say, the government's spending the government's money here and the
government's spending the government's money there, that we
recognize we're not spending the government's money, we're spending
the people's money, and therefore we need to be fiscally sound with
the people's money. (Applause.)
No, there's a lot of things we can do to work together to make
this economy grow. And I look forward to working with Congress, and
won't rest, until people who are looking for work can find work.
We've got a big job, as well, to make sure we protect America. I
was amazed when Kevin told me that the course of a debate, he said
one of the two in the race didn't believe we were still under a
threat. That's just not the case. I wish it were true, but it's not
true. There's still an enemy out there that's acting. There's still
an enemy which hates America. They hate America because of what we
love. We love freedom. (Applause.) We love the fact that people can
worship an almighty God any way they see fit in America. (Applause.)
We love the freedom for people to speak their mind. We love a free
press. We love every aspect of our freedom and we're not going to
change. (Applause.) And therefore, there's an enemy out there which
hates what we love. And so we've got to do everything we can to
protect the homeland.
My most important job is to protect American life, to protect
innocent life. I mention that, because you've got to know something
about these people we fight. Unlike us, they don't value life. See,
we think every life is precious, everybody counts, everybody
matters. We face an enemy which has hijacked a great religion and
are nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers. (Applause.) And
therapy won't work. (Laughter.)
We learned a tough lesson on September the 11th. See, it used to
be oceans could protect us, and if there was a war on another
continent we'd make the choice as to whether or not we would join
that war; that we were safe and secure as a nation because nations
could keep us safe and secure. But the harsh reality of the 21st
century came home. Oceans no longer protect us. Threats overseas are
threats that we must recognize here at home and deal with them.
That's why I asked the United States Congress to have a dialogue
on Iraq. That's why I asked the Congress to seriously consider,
along with the administration, as to whether or not we should deal
with a true threat to our country.
I want to remind you that we're dealing with a man who has used
weapons of mass destruction on his own people, on people in his
neighborhood. This is a man who has defied the United Nations 16
times over an 11-year period. The world has said, you must do what
you said you would do, Saddam Hussein, and that is disarm. And 16
times the United Nations, over and over and over again, has written
resolution after resolution, saying, Mr. Saddam Hussein, you must
disarm. And he has defied and international body.
So I gave a speech, and I said to the world, for the sake of
peace, for the sake of peace at home, for the sake of peace in the
Middle East, for the sake of determining whether or not that
international body is going to be the League of Nations or the
United Nations, Saddam Hussein must disarm, and we expect you, the
world, to disarm him. (Applause.) For the sake of peace, for the
sake of security for our country. It's his choice to make. You said
you would disarm, disarm. The United Nations has asked you to
disarm, they need to work together to disarm. But my fellow
Americans, if they won't act, and if Saddam Hussein won't act, for
the sake of peace, for the sake of our security, we will lead a
coalition to disarm that man. (Applause.)
And so we face true threats at home. And I went to Congress to
ask them to join me in the creation of a department of homeland
security. I did so because I wanted to take the agencies involved
with securing our homeland and put them under one Cabinet secretary,
so we can set clear priorities, the priorities to protect you, the
priorities to do everything we can to protect you. And therefore, I
thought it would be wise for us to have a department of homeland
security so we could better coordinate, better facilitate, better
prioritize; if need be, change cultures within agencies, so this
becomes the primary focus of a lot of good people who are working on
your behalf.
And by the way, there are a lot of good people working on your
behalf. We understand the stakes now. We see the reality clearly. We
know there's an enemy lurking around. We're aware of Bali,
Indonesia, where people just -- innocent lives were just destroyed
as a result of these cold-blooded killers. We know the stakes.
People are working hard on your behalf. Any time we're getting a
hint, any time we're getting a scintilla of evidence, any time we
think somebody is fixing to do something to the American people,
we're moving, we're disrupting, we're denying. We're doing
everything we can.
But we can be more effective, and that's why I asked Congress to
join me in the creation of a homeland defense, department of
homeland defense. The House acted, and the United States Senate is
stuck. And it's not because of the two U.S. senators on this stage,
I might add. (Applause.) They're struggling in the Senate because of
special interests. They're struggling because they're trying to get
me to pay a price for a homeland security bill. And I want to
describe the price that they want me to pay.
Every President since John Kennedy has had the ability to act in
the interests of the country for national security purposes. Every
President has had the capacity to suspend some labor rules if those
rules get in the way of national security concerns. Listen, I
strongly support the right for people to bargain collectively, if
they choose to do so. But I also am going to hold dear to that right
Presidents have had to be able to suspend some work rules for the
sake of national security.
I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. After
September the 11th the Customs Service wanted to quickly assign its
best, most qualified inspectors to the northern border. See, we were
worried about our borders. We're still worried about our borders. We
need to know who's coming into the country, what they're bringing
into the country, and if they're leaving the country when they say
they're going to leave the country. That's what we want to know. So
we wanted to move the best inspectors up there. But the leaders
representing this part of the work force said, no way, see, we're
not going to let you do that, you have to bargain over these
assignments.
Now, that's not right. We asked inspectors to wear radiological
detection devices so that they may be able to sniff out a weapon of
mass destruction. They said, no, no, we've got to have collective
bargaining over that. It took us four months of negotiations with
the head of the union to be able to get that done.
Now, see, I need the right to be able to put the right people at
the right place at the right time to protect America. (Applause.)
And I'm not changing, because I understand what's at stake. What's
at stake, we've got to make sure we do it right, to make sure that
this President and future Presidents can protect the homeland. And I
say future Presidents because in my judgment, this deal isn't ending
any time soon -- that even though we're making progress, we still
have got a long way to go.
And I want to remind you all that the best way to protect the
homeland is to hunt the killers down, one person at a time, and
bring them to justice. (Applause.) And that's what this country is
going to do. And we're making progress. In the old days, you know,
you could measure progress based upon the number of tanks you
destroyed, or whether or not somebody's navy had fewer ships, or
whether or not the air force wasn't able to fly. But this is a
different kind of war, see. We're facing these kind of people that
hide in caves or move around in the dark corners of some of these
cities in the world, they send youngsters to their suicidal deaths.
It's a different kind of war.
But we're making progress. The doctrine that says, either you're
with us or the enemy, it still stands. (Applause.) There's a lot of
good people around the world working hard, too. We've hauled in a
couple of thousand; like number weren't as lucky. None of them are a
threat anymore. The other day, a guy named bin al-Shebh popped his
head up. You don't have to worry about him. (Applause.) He was the
man who wanted to be the 20th hijacker. He was lurking around
Pakistan, figuring out a way how to hurt America again. And we found
him. And he's now in custody.
Slowly but surely, we're dismantling the al Qaeda terrorist
network. (Applause.) Slowly but surely. (Applause.) And as we do so,
we're spreading freedom.
I want you to remind your kids, and any other child you come in
contact with, that amongst all this war talk that this great country
never has conquered anybody, we're liberators. Thanks to the United
States and our friends and allies, many young girls go to school for
the first time in Afghanistan. (Applause.) We will never be
conquerors. We believe in freedom. See, when I say every life
counts, everybody has worth, every individual matters, I don't mean
just Americans. I believe that way for everybody. I believe freedom
is universal. It's just not an American ideal, it's a God-given
ideal, it's a universal ideal, and we love freedom in America.
(Applause.)
Tomorrow I'm going to sign a defense appropriations bill. I want
to thank Senator Snowe and Senator Collins for working on that bill
and getting it to my desk. It's the largest increase in defense
spending since President Reagan was the President. I'm going to tell
you the two reasons why. Any time the United States of America sends
our youngsters into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best
training and the best possible equipment. (Applause.) We owe that to
our troops, and we owe that to the loved one of our troops. You
loved ones out there of your troops, I've got great confidence in
the United States military. I've got great confidence in the ability
of our United States military. I'm incredibly proud of those who
wear our uniforms. (Applause.)
And the second reason the defense bill had the size it did, it
sends a message to friend and foe alike, it doesn't matter how long
it takes to defend freedom, we'll do it. There's no calendar on my
desk that says, by such and such a date, we're going to have to haul
the troops home. Such and such a date, we're going to quit -- that's
not the way America thinks. That's certainly not the way I think. We
love peace, and we love freedom, and it doesn't matter how long it
takes to secure both. (Applause.)
History has called us into action, history has called us to
action. We have a duty to future generations of Americans to make
this land secure. That's an obligation we have. It's an obligation
we won't -- from which we will not shirk.
I can't imagine what was going through the minds of the killers
when they hit America. Oh, they must have thought we were so
materialistic and selfish, so self-absorbed that after September the
11th we'd file a lawsuit or two. (Laughter.) They didn't understand,
they just didn't get it. They don't understand that this great
nation will defend that which we love. They don't understand that as
a nation we see opportunity out of the midst of the terrible evil.
See, I did believe this -- I believe the stronger we are, the
more resolved we are, the more clear-sighted we are, the more likely
it is we'll not only achieve peace for ourselves, but we can achieve
peace in the Middle East, we can achieve peace in South Asia.
No, out of the evil done to this great country can come
incredible good. I truly believe that staying the course, speaking
clearly, fighting terror where it exists, spreading freedom in a
humble way, we can achieve peace. And I also know here at home, I
also know here at home, that we can achieve a better America.
And government can help. We talked about education initiatives
and health initiatives. There's a lot of ways government can help.
But we've got to remember that government can hand out money, but
what it can't do is put hope in people's hearts or a sense of
purpose in people's lives. In order to eradicate the pockets of
despair and loneliness and hopelessness which exist in this great
land, which has got to be a national cause -- we want everybody in
this country to recognize and realize the great promise of America.
See, when one of us hurts, we all hurt. In order to eradicate those
pockets of despair, we must love a neighbor just like we'd like to
be loved ourselves. Each of us can make a difference in making sure
the American experience is available to all. (Applause.) Each of us
can love a neighbor like we'd like to be loved ourselves.
America can and will change, one conscience, one heart, one soul
at a time. Not one person can do everything, but each of you can be
somebody doing that something to make America a better place --
mentor a child, feed the hungry, find shelter for the homeless. No,
the enemy hit us, but they didn't know who they were hitting. The
enemy hit us, and out of the evil done to America is going to come
some incredible good.
There's no doubt in my mind we will be a better society, a more
decent society, a society in which we understand that being a
patriot means more than just putting your hand over your heart.
Being a patriot means helping somebody in need. Being a patriot
means serving a cause greater than yourself.
No, they hit us, and out of the evil done to America is going to
come a more peaceful world a more -- better America, no doubt in my
mind, because this is the greatest country, full of the finest
people on the face of the Earth.
Thank you for coming. May God bless you all, and may God bless
America. (Applause.)
END 3:11 P.M. EDT
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