For Immediate Release Office of the
Press Secretary October 5, 2002
Remarks by the President at John Sununu for Senate
Reception Expo Center of New Hampshire Manchester,
New Hampshire
12:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Listen, it's good to be
back. I had the honor of speaking in the Armory before, and it's the
place where I cut my teeth in New Hampshire politics by flipping
pancakes. (Laughter.) But it was reminiscent of some really good
times for Laura and me, and I recognize a lot of faces here, and I
want to thank you all for coming.
I'm here because I want to make it as plain as I can, John Sununu
will be a great United States Senator for New Hampshire. (Applause.)
It's in my interests, it's in New Hampshire's interests, it's in the
country's interest that John Sununu be elected. (Applause.)
I want to thank you all for working hard for his election.
There's no doubt in my mind that we will be able to work together to
do what's right for the country.
I'm impressed by his record. First of all, I know something about
what I'm about to speak -- he and I share something in common: we've
both got mothers still telling us what to do. (Laughter and
applause.) He assures me he's still listening to her -- (laughter)
-- and I'm listening to mine. (Laughter.) Most of the time.
(Applause.)
We both married above ourselves. (Laughter.) I want to thank
Kitty Sununu, mother of three, for standing by John's side. It's
tough to run for office, it's hard on a family. But if you've got a
good marriage and if you prioritize your family, you can do
anything. And I appreciate the Sununus' love for each other, and I
appreciate their family values a lot. (Applause.)
Laura sends her best. She made a lot of friends here in New
Hampshire. She sends her love to her friends. She sends her best, of
course, to the Sununus. She wishes she could be here; she is opening
up a museum in Portland, Maine. You all drew the short straw.
(Laughter.) But she's doing great. She's doing great. I have been
incredibly proud of her.
The country has seen her grace and her strength and her calm when
the pressure was on. People began to realize why I asked her to
marry me, and some are a little confused as to say why she said yes,
but nevertheless. (Laughter.) I love her dearly, she is a fabulous
First Lady for the country. (Applause.)
I appreciate Judd Gregg. He's been a friend, he's a solid
citizen. He's a really, really good United States Senator. He, too,
married well, it's great that Kathy's here. But the Greggs are close
friends of Laura and mine, we value their friendship, and I know you
value his service to the great state of New Hampshire. (Applause.)
I want to say a word about Bob Smith. Bob served well in the
United States Senate. I was incredibly impressed by his graciousness
on what had to have been a very difficult night for Bob and his
family. He was gracious about John, he was strong in his support.
New Hampshire has been well represented by Senator Bob Smith. I,
too, am proud to call him friend. And I appreciate his service to
the country. (Applause.)
I'm also proud to serve in Washington, D.C., with a fine United
States Congressman, a fellow I got to know pretty well as I traveled
on John's Winnebago all over the -- all over the state of New
Hampshire, and that's Charlie Bass. I appreciate you, Charlie.
(Applause.)
I also look forward to being joined in Washington by the
Congressman Jeb Bradley. I appreciate the campaign Jeb is running --
(applause) -- and I'm honored to be here with the next Governor of
the state of New Hampshire, Craig Benson. I appreciate you, Craig.
(Applause.)
I know something about being a governor, and I know what it takes
to get elected. And I am impressed by the campaign that Craig is
running. He takes nothing for granted; he's out there in those
coffee shops and knocking on those doors. He is traveling this
state. He has got a burning desire to do what's right for all the
people of New Hampshire. I'm confident he's going to win, and I'm
equally as confident that he'll do a great job as your governor.
(Applause.)
But most of all, I want to thank the grassroots activists of the
state of New Hampshire for coming. I want to thank you for what you
have done, and, more importantly now, what you're going to do.
And I know what you can do in this state. You can turn out the
vote. You can put up the signs. You can mail the mailers. You can
get on the phones. John Sununu will be elected the United States
Senator, not only because he's got a good message and a good heart,
but because of your hard work and your dedication to turn out the
vote. (Applause.)
I want to thank the Chairman of the party, John Dowd, and Tom
Rath, the National Committeeman, and Nancy Merrill, the National
Committeewoman, for leading an active, strong grassroots
organization. You need to go to your coffee shops. You need to go to
your churches or your synagogues or your mosques or any other place
of worship. You need to go to your community centers, and you need
to tell everybody in the state of New Hampshire -- Republican,
Democrat, or Independent -- that you've got some fine candidates;
that John Sununu needs to be the United States Senator. (Applause.)
And we've got some tough tasks ahead of us. We must work together
to make sure Americans can find work. The way I like to put it is
anytime anybody who wants to work can't find a job, we must do
everything we can to seek to expand the job base.
Now, the role of government -- John and I know this -- is not to
create wealth. The role of government is to create an environment in
which the small business can grow to be a big business, in which the
entrepreneur, the spirit of America can flourish, in which our
producers have got a chance to make a living. And so therefore, I
need somebody in the Senate who understands that -- somebody who
also understands the importance, when the economy is slow, of
letting people keep more of their own money. (Applause.)
New Hampshire citizens of all political stripes must understand
that when the economy is slow, that you don't increase taxes on the
American people, but you let people keep more of their own money.
Because when they do, they demand a good or a service, and when they
demand a good or a service, somebody in the marketplace is likely to
produce the good or a service. And when somebody makes that decision
to produce a good or a service, somebody is more likely to find
work.
For the sake of jobs in New Hampshire, for the sake of economic
vitality in this state, you need a United States Senator who will
join me in making the tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)
John Sununu was with me from the beginning. There was no question
in my mind where he stood. He didn't need to take a poll, or a focus
group, to make his decision about tax relief. He knew it was the
right thing for the national economy. The problem we have, and the
reason we have to continue to talking about this issue is because of
a quirk in the Senate rules. And I'm going to let old Judd, after I
leave back to go see my mother, tell you what -- how this happened.
Let me just put it to you this way, in plain language. The Senate
has got the kind of rule where you pass the tax cut and then ten
years it goes back to where we were. The way I like to put it, if I
can -- in plain English is, on the one hand, they taketh away, on
the other hand, they giveth. On the one hand they give tax relief,
on the other hand, you don't get tax relief. It's hard to explain in
Manchester, New Hampshire, and it's darn sure hard to explain in
Crawford, Texas.
But this isn't hard to explain: that wouldn't happen if you had a
United States Senate which would vote to make the tax cuts
permanent, and that senator would be John Sununu. (Applause.)
A couple of other things that we need to do in Washington to make
sure our folks can find work. Listen, we've got a lot of
construction projects which are on hold because people can't get
terrorism insurance. The enemy hit us, and they affected our
economy. And one way they did was a lot of construction projects --
like $15 billion worth -- are not going forward because people can't
get insurance, because of a potential terrorist attack.
I think it is a legitimate use for Congress to kind of underwrite
terrorism insurance. There is 300,000 jobs going begging, 300,000
hard-hats not finding work because we can't get terrorism insurance.
It doesn't cost the American people anything if there's not another
attack. But it'll help the economy grow. It'll help make people --
it'll help people find work.
John Sununu understands this. What we need to do is pass a
terrorism insurance bill that does not reward trial lawyers, but
works to put our hard-hats back to work in America. (Applause.) And,
finally, there's a lot of things we can do to make the environment
for economic growth strong. But one thing we need to do for certain
is to elect people who understand whose money we spend in
Washington.
You need to listen carefully to the debates that goes on in our
nation's capital. You see, some of them are -- goes on with people
trying to get to the nation's capital. Some of them, they talk about
the government's money. Folks, we don't spend the government's money
in Washington -- we spend your money. And you better make sure you
send somebody to Washington who is a fiscally responsible person.
I know firsthand that John is, after all, he's on the -- he's
vice chairman of the Budget Committee in the House. And, by the way,
the House Budget Committee passed my budget, so the House has a
budget. It gets us back to balance quickly. It funds priorities. It
gets us back to balance as quickly as possible. It says, let's be
responsible with your money. We can't get a budget out of the United
States Senate. And if you don't have a budget, and because every
idea in Washington sounds like a brilliant idea, even though the
price tag may run in the billions, we've got the danger of the
Congress overspending. There's no question in mind that John Sununu
will be responsible with the people's money when he becomes the
United States Senator. (Applause.)
I think a lot about our economy. I'm going to do everything I can
to increase the job base. I spend a lot of time on it. It's one way
to make sure the country is stronger. Another way to make sure we've
got a strong country is to make sure that our federal bench is a
bench full of judges that don't use their position from which to
legislate. We've got plenty of legislators. We don't need our judges
legislating, we need them strictly interpreting the Constitution.
(Applause.)
That's an issue in this campaign -- the bench is an issue in this
campaign. I named a fabulous lady from Texas, named Priscilla Owen.
She'd been running statewide in our state several times, got elected
overwhelmingly, had strong Republican support, strong Democrat
support. Number one in her law school class, or tops of her law
school class. She's ranked the highest rating possible by the
American Bar Association. She is a -- you know, she'll interpret the
Constitution, she's not going to try to rewrite it.
And I sent her name up there and they -- they weren't fair with
her record. They totally politicized the issue. They made this a
huge political deal. For the sake of a solid judiciary, I need John
Sununu in the United States Senate. (Applause.)
I named a new man, named Michael Estrada, to one of our higher
benches. It's a great American success story. He couldn't speak
English when he came here -- he's now being nominated by the
President to one of the highest benches because he's a brilliant
lawyer. He's got fantastic support from Democrats and Republicans.
John Sununu will cast his vote with Michael. Judd Gregg would. I
wonder if the other candidate in this race will stand up and support
the judicial nominees of a President George W. Bush. For the sake of
a strong judiciary, we need John Sununu in the United States Senate.
(Applause.)
I also appreciate his understanding that our most important
priority is to protect the homeland. See, there's an enemy which
stills hate America lurking around. And so long as they lurk, we
must do everything we can to protect America. That's our most
important job, is to protect you. There's a lot of good folks
working hard to do this. We're running down every lead, every hint,
every idea that somebody might hurt us, we're following up on.
But in order to make sure I can do a better job, I ask the
Congress to join me in the creating of a Department of Homeland
Security. Listen, when I was campaigning here I didn't say, vote for
me, I want your government to be bigger. I did say, I want your
government to work, where it needs to work. And it needs to work in
protecting the homeland. There's over a hundred agencies scattered
around Washington that have got something to do with the homeland.
So for the sake of better managing the department, for the sake
of being able to get people to work together, I said, let's have it
in one agency. The House heard it. Judd Gregg has heard it. Sununu
supported it. But it's tied up in the Senate. And here's the issue.
Some senators want there to be a thick book of managerial
regulations which will prevent a President from putting the right
people at the right place at the right time in order to respond to
an enemy. Some people want there to be more bureaucracy than
managerial flexibility.
One example, just one of many: we believe, and the Customs
Service believes, that people ought to be wearing
radiation-detection devices when they inspect cargo, to determine
whether or not a weapon of mass destruction is coming into the
country. The union representing the Customs agents said, wait a
minute, you can't make people wear radiation-detection devices.
That's a matter for collective bargain, we need a collective bargain
over that -- which could have taken a year to do that.
I need flexibility. I need a Senator who understands that this
President and future Presidents -- (applause.)
The best way to protect America, however, is to chase these
killers down, one at a time, one person at a time. And that is
precisely what we are going to do.
And they're out there. They just are. We're making progress. The
doctrine that says either you're with us or you're with the enemy,
still stands. It's just as important today as it was the day after
the attacks on September the 11th. And so there's a lot of folks
working with us. We've got good intelligence, we're sharing it
better than ever before. We're cutting off their money. We're
denying safe haven. If we can find them lighting somewhere, we get
them on the run. And we pulled in a couple of thousand of them.
And sometimes it makes news when we do it and sometimes it
doesn't. This is just a different kind of war. In the old days, you
destroyed an enemy's tanks and you say, well, we're making progress.
Sunk a couple of ships and we're making progress.
These folks don't have ships, they don't have tanks. They hide in
caves and they send youngsters to their suicidal death. That guy
al-Shibh, bin al-Shibh popped up, and he's no longer a problem.
(Laughter.) We hauled him in. (Applause.)
Slowly but surely, we are dismantling an al Qaeda terrorist
network, and we've got a lot more work to do. By the way, we
probably captured a couple of thousand of them, and just that many
weren't as lucky, thanks to the United States military. (Applause.)
By the way, that doctrine that says if you harbor one of those
terrorists, you're just as guilty as the terrorists, it still
stands, too. But I want you to remind you -- I want you to remind
your kids, in all the midst of this talk about military this and
that, that this great nation did what it said it was going to do.
And at the same time it upheld doctrine, it liberated people.
We didn't go to Afghanistan, nor will we ever go anywhere, to
conquer anybody. See, we believe in freedom. That's why the enemy
hates us. We believe in freedom, and we went into Afghanistan -- we
freed people. Thanks to the United States -- (applause) -- thanks to
the United States young girls now go to -- many young girls now go
to school for the first time because of our belief in freedom.
Everybody counts. Everybody has got worth. (Applause.)
I sent a bill up there to increase defense spending, a big
increase, for two reasons. I hope you appreciate the reasons why.
One, anytime we put our troops in harm's way, we owe it to our
troops, we owe it to their loved ones, to make sure they've got the
best training, the best pay, and the best possible equipment.
(Applause.) And secondly, it's a clear signal that we're in this
deal for the long haul; that there's not a artificial time line that
says, well, we've had enough, we're kind of tired, let's quit.
See, we need to send a signal -- we know this here at home, but
others need to know that when it comes to the defense of things
which we hold dear, namely our freedoms -- the freedom to worship
the way we see fit, the freedom to debate political issues in an
open forum, the freedom of the press -- when it comes to the defense
of our freedoms, there is no time frame. It doesn't matter how long
it takes. It doesn't matter how difficult the task. The United
States of America will defend our freedoms. (Applause.)
I haven't seen that Defense bill yet. Judd voted for it and John
voted for it; I haven't seen it yet. It's stuck in committee. They
don't need to be playing politics with the Defense bill right now.
They need to get the bill done before they go home. They need to get
the Defense bill on my desk. (Applause.)
I said we're in this deal for the long haul, and we are. We'll be
chasing al Qaeda down. They think they can hide somewhere. They just
cannot do that with America. The long arm of American and allied
justice will seek them out.
We've got some other tasks ahead as well, to keep the peace and
to make our country secure. And that of course is Iraq. There's now
a national debate, one which I encourage; one which I think is
helpful. A national debate on how best to keep the peace; how best
to secure the homeland; whether or not we ought to deal with threats
before they become so severe that we may never be able to deal with
them. It's an important debate.
Monday night I'll be giving a talk to the nation about my take on
the debate. I want to share some thought with you right quick, and
it's this. The facts and the history of Iraq are pretty clear to me.
This is a man who told the world he would not have weapons of mass
destruction -- your chemical, your biological or nuclear weapons.
For eleven years he has lied.
On the one hand, he said he wouldn't have them -- he does. And
remember, this is a guy who's used them. He not only has denied and
deceived about possessing weapons, he's actually used the weapons of
mass destruction. He's used the weapons of mass destruction against
neighbors. He has used weapons of mass destruction against his own
people. He hates America. He hates many of our friends. He hates
Israel. He's a man who contiues his own people who might dissent.
When the inspectors were able to go into the country and have
unfettered access, it was discovered that he was a short period away
from owning a nuclear weapon.
It's an important debate we're going to have here in America
about how best to secure the homeland. I took the debate to the
United Nations a while ago. One, I want the United Nations to be
effective. I want there to be a body of freedom-loving nations that
when they speak, something actually can happen.
This is a man, as I reminded them, who has looked the United
Nations in the eye for eleven long years and has defied them.
Sixteen times the Security Council passed resolution after
resolution after resolution after resolution, and sixteen times he
defied them.
My message was, we want you to be effective. We've got a new kind
of war we're fighting. You need to be effective. We want you to
work. But it's your choice. You can either be an effective United
Nations, or you can be the League of Nations. You get to pick.
I also have said as clearly as I can that this is an issue of
inspectors. That's what the process oriented people want. This is an
issue of disarmament. This is a man who has said he would disarm.
The United Nations said he must sixteen times. He said he would, but
he hasn't. The choice is his to make, as well. And those choices
will be made over time here. But for the sake of our peace, for the
sake of our children's future, if the United Nations will not act in
strong face, if they continue to be ineffective; if Saddam Hussein
makes the choice not to disarm, the United States and a lot of our
friends will disarm him. For the sake of peace, for the sake of
freedom for the sake of our future and our children's future, we
will disarm him. (Applause.)
The use of our military is my last choice, not my first. I take
my responsibilities very seriously as the Commander in Chief. The
use of force is not my first choice, it's my last. But my first
choice, as well, is not to allow the world's worst leader to
blackmail, to harm America with the world's worst weapons.
The United States Congress will speak to this issue next week.
It's a very, very important debate. This is not a partisan
discussion, it's a philosophical discussion. It's a discussion
that's a weighty matter. I look forward to the debate, I actually
encourage the debate.
I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats
stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a
clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will. We owe it to our
children to think about this issue, we owe it to the future. My
belief is, is that the enemy hit us, and out of the evil can come
some incredible good. And one of the good that can come is peace.
The United States can lead the world to peace if we're clear and
forthright and determined. If we speak clearly about terror and its
threats. If we hold our values, God-given values in the forefront,
and that is freedom, we can achieve a peaceful world. (Applause.)
And you know what else we can do here in America? We can achieve
a better world for all of us too, better world for each person who
lives in this country. (Applause.) There are pockets of despair and
loneliness in America. My attitude is, when our citizens hurt, we
all hurt. I recognize the limitations of government, I think John
does, as well. I mean, we can -- government should educate, see that
people are educated. Passed a good education bill. John talked about
he was a strong stalwart, as was Judd, who actually was an author,
of holding people accountable. It says every child can learn in
America. We are going to challenge the soft bigotry of low
expectations in this country and we're going to insist every child
learns. (Applause.)
Government can make sure the health systems are modern. Medicare
is old. Medicine has changed, Medicare hasn't. Medicine is modern,
Medicare -- and a really incredibly important program -- has not
changed with medicine. For the sake of our seniors, we need a
prescription drug plan and a modern Medicare system. (Applause.)
That's an important part of government being involved with making
our society better.
But what government cannot do is cause people to love one
another. Government cannot put hope in people's hearts. That's up to
us, our fellow citizens. My call to America has been and will
continue to be to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself.
If you want to fight evil, do some good. Do some good. Help
somebody in need. Mentor a child. Go to a Boy Scout, or run a Boy
Scout or a Girl Scout troop. Feed the hungry. Find shelter for the
homeless. There are many ways to fight the evil that has been done
to our country.
You see, it's the millions of acts of kindness and decency by our
fellow citizens that reflect the true nature and character of this
country. No, the enemy hit us -- they thought, they thought, they
probably thought that after September 11, 2001, we would file a
lawsuit or two. (Laughter.)
What they didn't realize is this country is plenty tough. And the
world is beginning to see we're plenty -- we're plenty
compassionate, too. (Applause.) That in our -- that our strength is
our will and our resolve and our dedication to values we hold dear,
and our strength is our collective heart.
You know, one reason I got into politics was because I wanted to
be a part of a cultural shift, just a small part of a change. I
think the enemy accelerated that cultural shift from one in which it
said if it feels good, just go ahead and do it, and if you've got a
problem, blame somebody else; to a culture in which each of us
understand we are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
If you are a mom or a dad, your most important responsibility is
to love your child. If you're living in Manchester, New Hampshire,
you have the responsibility for the quality of life. You have the
responsibility to making sure the schools work. If you're running
corporate America, you have a responsibility to tell the truth, and
to treat your shareholders and your employees with dignity and
respect. (Applause.)
Perhaps the most vivid example about what I'm talking about,
about serving something greater than yourself as part of a culture
of personal responsibility, came on Flight 93. It's an important
moment, in my judgment, about what took place on America on that
terrible day.
We had citizens flying across the country. They were told on the
telephone that the airplane they were on was being used as a weapon.
They told their loved ones goodbye, they said a prayer -- history
will show they said a prayer. A guy said, "Let's roll." They took
the plane in the ground.
They sent a clear signal to America that serving something
greater than yourself in life is an incredibly important part about
being the ultimate American, about serving our country. (Applause.)
No, when the enemy hit us, they didn't know who they were
hitting. See, out of the evil done to America is going to come
incredible good. The world will be more peaceful. This country will
be able to eliminate, work to eliminate the pockets of despair.
There's no question in my mind we face challenges as a nation.
But there's no question in my mind we can overcome them. After all,
this is the finest nation, the greatest nation, on the face of the
earth.
Thanks for coming to help John. May God bless you all, and may
God bless America. (Applause.)
END 12:51 P.M. EDT
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