Copyright 2002 Denver Publishing Company Rocky
Mountain News (Denver, CO)
February 9, 2002 Saturday Final Edition
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 4A
LENGTH:
1005 words
HEADLINE: PRESIDENT TOUTS HIS FARM BILL; BUSH USES DENVER TALK TO U.S. CATTLE
PRODUCERS TO PUSH HIS FARM POLICY, NATION'S WAR ON TERROR
BYLINE: Charlie Brennan , and John Sanko, News Staff Writers,
News staff writer John Ensslin contributed to this report.
BODY: President Bush touched down in Denver on
Friday just long enough to make a pitch for his heartland farm policy and to
underscore the importance of a victory over terrorism.
Bush and first lady Laura Bush made a political pit stop in Colorado
for a presidential address to a convention of 5,500 cattle producers, before
flying on to Salt Lake City for opening night of the 2002 Winter Olympic
Games.
Although a $73.5 billion farm support bill was
the day's main course, as a side dish Bush hammered away at the nation's
military goals overseas.
"I intend to find the killers
wherever they may hide, and run them down, and bring them to justice," Bush told
the conventioneers.
"They think there's a cave deep
enough; they're wrong. They think we're going to run out of patience; they are
wrong.
"Those who hurt America and those who continue
to want to harm America will not be able to escape the long reach of American
justice. Afghanistan is the first theater in the war against terrorism."
The Denver stop was so brief that those who blinked twice
might have missed it.
Folks who showed up at Denver's
City Park to catch a glimpse of the president after his helicopter landed saw
little or nothing, depending on their viewpoint.
On the
nothing end of the stick were 30 or so folks who gathered on the south side of
City Park, on the north side of East 17th Avenue, hoping to see the 43rd
president and the first lady disembarking from a helicopter and stepping into a
limousine.
Among the would-be spectators were Ashley
Alvarez, 10, and her grandmother Shirley Alvarez, both of Denver. Ashley
clutched a small American flag.
"I really want to see
the president," she said. "I think it would be kind of cool."
But Bush's 9:15 a.m. touchdown in the park was all build-up and no bang
for spectators on the park's southern flank, as Bush stepped out of his
helicopter on the aircraft's north side.
For some
spectators, the Bush arrival was nothing but scurrying dark trouser legs and
shiny wing-tips glimpsed beneath the chopper's belly from 200 yards away.
After a short trip downtown, Bush was rewarded with an
adoring reception from 5,500 fellow members of the cattle industry, where he
explained the need for a $73.5 billion farm bill now pending
in Congress.
"I want a farm bill that
supports trade," he told delegates attending the 2002 Cattle Industry Convention
and Trade Show at the Colorado Convention Center. "We want people in China
eating U.S. beef."
The comment drew one of nearly a
dozen standing ovations as Bush touched on issues ranging from the war on
terrorism to his efforts to improve the economy for the nation's farmers and
ranchers.
"I appreciate being with people who love the
land and appreciate open space," he said. "I realize there's nobody more central
to the American experience than the cowboy.
"But
cattle-raising is not only a big part of America's past, I view it as an
incredibly important part of America's future. This nation has got to eat. It's
in our national security interests that we be able to feed ourselves."
Bush may have said nothing new during his nearly 40-minute
speech, but he captured the crowd from the start when he walked on stage waving
a gift, a white Stetson from the Greeley Hat Works Co. Cattlemen in the audience
tipped their Stetsons back.
"This guy gets invited to
all kinds of stuff and he chose to speak here," said Colorado Agriculture
Commissioner Don Ament, who was elated with the president's speech. "The policy
implications are incredible."
In speaking on the farm bill, Bush discussed the importance of spreading the money
over a 10-year period and not advancing it for payments in the first five years
as some Senate Democrats hope to do.
"We've got to
spend the money without - I guess you could call it - political gimmickry," he
said.
"You see, what we don't want to have happen is
they take the bulk of that money and spend it early, so that in the out years,
the farm economy suffers.
"What we want is to make sure
that when the bill is passed, that the $73 billion is spent evenly, or
relatively evenly over the decade."
At the end of his
comments, Bush left the podium and waded out into the crowd to shake hands and
exchange a few words with the ranchers and other delegates.
The Bush motorcade was rolling again a few minutes later, and was back
to City Park and his entourage's four waiting helicopters by 10:50 a.m.
Two minutes later, the presidential party was on board -
but not before he paused and gave a wave to a couple of dozen people standing in
the park beyond yellow police-line tape about 200 yards to the north.
At 10:54 a.m., the chopper carrying Bush and the first
lady lifted into the air for the short hop to Buckley Air Force Base, where Air
Force One was waiting.
Lauri Ruiz of Denver, among
those to enjoy his wave from a distance, admitted to being disappointed that she
saw so little of the free world's leader.
"I kinda
understand though, with all the security around, because of September 11th," she
said. "I just think it's exciting, because I've never been this close to a
president before."
Prior to the president's departure
from Buckley, a small contingent of people had pulled their cars over in the
soft dirt shoulder on the north side of East Sixth Avenue.
Tonya Hanks had loaded her two kids, Roice, 5 and Kaitlyn, 4, and a box
of chocolate-covered doughnuts into the car and headed west from Strasburg. The
kids had the day off from school. Each brought a camera.
They missed the president's arrival - in part - because Roice slept
in.
"I was sleepy," he explained.
Finally, their mother spotted the president's plane. Or, part of it.
She noticed the fin of Air Force One, peeking out from behind a ridge as the
plane taxied onto the runway.
As the jet took off about
11:30 a.m. and became just a tiny speck in the sky, Kaitlyn stretched out her
arms and snapped off a frame with the heart-shaped button on her hot-pink Barbie
camera.
"Got it!" she said.
NOTES: PRESIDENT BUSH IN DENVER; Related
color photo p.1A; Related article p.5A
GRAPHIC: Photo (2), Josh Sands, 9, gets a personal greeting from
President Bush on Friday, as they stand on the tarmac at Buckley Air Force Base
shortly after the, president's arrival. Watching are first lady Laura Bush and
Josh's parents, Kim Sands and base commander Col. James Sands. Bush was in town
to to address, the 2002 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show at the
Colorado Convention, Center. By Barry Gutierrez , Rocky Mountain News, CAPTION:
Hats wave and cameras click as President Bush shakes hands with, cattle industry
delegates before a speech at the Colorado Convention Center on, Friday. Bush
used the time to promote a $73.5 billion farm support bill and, continue to push
the battle on terrorism. By Marc Piscotty , Rocky Mountain, News
Document 176 of 305. 