[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 40 (Monday, October 9, 2006)]
[Pages 1734-1740]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks at a Breakfast for Congressional Candidate Rick Renzi in
Scottsdale, Arizona
October 4, 2006
Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. I'm honored to
be here. Thanks for a warm Arizona welcome. You know, there's nothing
like waking up in Arizona with a fantastic sunrise. What a great way to
brighten the spirit. And thank you for coming. It brightens my spirits,
as well, to know that there are a lot of good folks from northern
Arizona and other parts of this State who are willing to stand up and
support a good man, Rick Renzi, in his quest to be reelected to the
United States Congress. So thank you for coming. Both of us are really
glad you're here. I remember campaigning for Rick in Flagstaff in a rain
storm. That didn't dampen our spirits, nor did it dampen my enthusiasm
in saying as clearly as I could, I'm confident he will make a great
Congressman. And he has proven me right. He deserves to be reelected to
the United States Congress, and I thank you for helping him.
I say he deserves it because he's got a record. And I'm going to
talk a little bit about what we have done together to make Arizona and
the country a better place. But one thing about Renzi, he stands strong
on principle. He's got his priorities straight. He prioritizes his
faith. He loves his family--all of them. [Laughter] Three of his boys
are here, Rob, Ron, and Rick. Listen, when you got 12 kids, it's good to
have their names start with the same letter--that way you don't forget
them. [Laughter] But I want to thank the Renzi boys for being here.
Thanks for supporting your dad.
I'm sorry mama is not here--Roberta is taking care of the kids. I
understand that. But one of the good things about Rick is, his family
stands squarely with him, and it's important when you're in public
service, when you're serving the people, that your family is with you.
And that ought to give people in northern Arizona comfort, to know that
they got a Congressman who not only works hard on their behalf in
Washington and when he's back in the district, but he's got good
priorities. I'm proud to support Rick Renzi in his reelection effort,
and I thank you for coming.
I've got somebody else here who is running for reelection, and he's
a man who has brought a lot of dignity to the office of United States
Senator. He's solid; he is strong; he is influential, and that is
Senator Jon Kyl. And I appreciate you coming, Senator--he brought Caryll
along.
I appreciate Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who's up for reelection, and
I urge you to vote for J.D. Thanks for coming, J.D. J.D.
[[Page 1735]]
has got him a race, and I hope the people of his district are wise
enough to send him back to Washington, DC.
I'm proud to be here with another Congressman, and that would be
U.S. Congressman Trent Franks, who brought his wife, Josie, with him.
Trent, thanks for coming--and sweet Josie.
Last night when I got here at the airport, I was greeted by a young
person running for Governor, an attractive man--[laughter]--a family
man, an honest man, and that's Len Munsil. I appreciate you coming,
Governor. I'm glad you're here, and I wish you all the very best.
I know Renzi well enough to know that he can be a plain-spoken
fellow, and he said to me, ``I want you to know, you weren't my first
choice for this breakfast.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Well, thanks for
having me fly all the way out here,'' you know. [Laughter] I said, ``Who
might that have been?'' He said, ``Well, I really wanted Laura to
come.'' [Laughter] Another reason to put him back in Congress is because
he's got good judgment. [Laughter]
Laura sends her best. She's proud of your service. She says hello to
all our friends here in the great State of Arizona. I'm a lucky man that
Laura Bush said yes when I asked her to marry me.
We're getting ready for--we're coming down the stretch in these
campaigns. I'm looking forward to traveling the country, making it
clear, there are substantial differences in the philosophy we adhere to
and the philosophy advocated by the Democrats. I like campaigns. It's a
good opportunity to explain to the American people why we make the
decisions we make. It's a good chance to explain the philosophy of the
two different parties.
I'd like to start with talking about our economic philosophy. Rick
and I believe that the way to grow an economy is to let you keep more of
your own money so you can save, spend, or invest. We strongly believe
that the more money you have in your pocket, the more likely it is
somebody is going to be able to find work. That is not only our
philosophy; that is a practice that we adhere to.
See, you might remember--and when you're out there campaigning, I
know Rick says, look what we have been through. In other words, we're
not just talkers; we're doers. We've been through a recession. We had
corporate scandals. We had a significant stock market correction. We had
to suffer a terrorist attack on the United States of America, which hurt
our economy. I made the decision to defend this country, and we have
been in two theaters in this war on terror with troops. We had
hurricanes, high energy prices--and yet the American economy is the envy
of the industrialized world.
It's one thing to go out and advocate a philosophy; it's another
thing to put it into effect. Progrowth economic policies work. We cut
the taxes on people who were paying taxes. Small businesses are growing.
The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Productivity is up. Our farmers
and ranchers are doing well. The progrowth economic policies of the
Republican Party have made a significant difference to the working
people in the United States.
And if the other bunch gets elected, they're going to raise your
taxes. Make no mistake about it, we have a different philosophy. See,
they think they can spend your money better than you can. They want more
of your money to enhance their vision of bigger government. Oh, I know
that words get couched in different ways or--the reason we campaign is,
we help clarify Washington-speak. You'll hear people say, ``Well, all
we're going to do is just let the tax cuts expire''--those would be tax
cuts on people who have got children, small businesses, those who are
married--``Oh, we'll just let them expire.'' What that means is, they're
going to raise your taxes. See, if those tax cuts expire, your taxes are
going up. It's like an employer saying to somebody, I'm going to give
you a raise, and a couple of weeks later, I'm going to take it away, but
I hope you still think you got the raise. [Laughter]
Rick and I strongly believe that the best way to keep this economy
growing, the best way to keep America to be entrepreneurial heaven is to
make the tax cuts we passed permanent. Oh, you'll hear them say in
Washington, ``Oh, we just need to raise some of the people's taxes in
order to balance the budget.'' You know, I've been there long enough to
tell you, that's not how it works.
[[Page 1736]]
Yeah, they'll raise your taxes, all right, but they will figure out new
ways to spend your money. The best way to balance the budget is to keep
taxes low so we grow the economy and to prioritize how we spend your
money. You know, I said we can cut the deficit in half by 2009; because
of progrowth economic policies and strong fiscal policy out of the House
of Representatives, because of votes like Rick Renzi, this deficit is
going to be cut in half by 2008. The worst way to treat the budget is to
run up your taxes, slow down economic growth, and expand Federal
Government. And we're not going to let them do it. We're going to win
the election because we're progrowth and wise about the money.
It's really important that Congress prioritize, set priorities. If
you try to be all things to all people, we're going to spend foolishly.
And I've set some priorities. And I want the people of Arizona to
understand that the number-one priority for this Government is to defend
this country and to make sure our troops have all that is necessary to
do their job for the sake of security. And I thank Congressman Renzi and
the other Congressmen here in this audience and Senator Kyl for standing
strong for those brave men and women who put on the uniform of the
United States of America. What an honor it is to be the Commander in
Chief of such a fine group of people.
I appreciate the fact that Rick joins me in what I call cooperative
conservation. That means we're going to work with local folks, local
stakeholders, and States to conserve our environment. You know, there is
a mindset in Washington that says, we'll tell the folks in Arizona how
to do it. That's not my view. See, I'm from Texas; I believe that Texans
can manage the environment in Texas plenty fine. And I believe the same
thing in Arizona.
I worked with Rick to pass what's called the Healthy Forest
Initiative. See, his district has got a lot of important forests. It
means that we can work together with local folks to thin out those
forests so they're not full of combustionable fuel, to be able to help
deal with the catastrophic fires that have plagued this State and other
States. It is a wise use of government resources to plan and affect good
environmental policy by working with the local folks. Rick understands
that. People in northern Arizona must feel confident that their
Representative, Rick Renzi, trusts their judgment and is willing to work
on behalf of them in Washington, DC, in a cooperative way.
Rick and I firmly believe that it's really important that we
diversify away from foreign sources of oil. Look, we're all applauding
the fact that gasoline prices are going down. I'm sure it pleases you if
you drive a car. I know it helps our small-business owners and our
families who are concerned about whether or not they'll have enough
money to save for their child's education, for example. Declining
gasoline prices are good for the economy, but they should not cause us
to forget that dependence upon foreign oil is a national security
problem. It's a national security concern. And therefore, I look forward
to continuing to work with the Arizona delegation and Congressman Renzi
to provide research and development money to enable us to fuel our
automobiles in different ways.
I can't wait for the day when we can continue to say, ``Corn is up
and, therefore, dependence upon oil is down.'' I can't wait that we
develop new ways to develop ethanol, like from wood chips, so that
people in northern Arizona become significant producers of energy that
will enable this country to diversify away from reliance on foreign
crude oil. One day, we'll have hybrid vehicles with new batteries, plug-
in hybrids, and you'll be able to drive the first 40 miles on
electricity--and your car won't have to look like a golf cart.
[Laughter] When these kids are learning to drive, they'll be having
hydrogen-powered automobiles at their disposal. In other words, we're on
a massive effort to diversify away from foreign sources of oil.
And in the meantime, we need to be exploring for natural gas and oil
in our own hemisphere in environmentally friendly ways. We've got a
comprehensive plan to help this Nation's national security and economic
security by having a comprehensive energy bill, and I want to thank
Congressman Renzi for working on that.
Oh, there's going to be a lot of domestic issues we'll work on, but
there's no issue
[[Page 1737]]
more important than protecting the American people. It's the calling of
the 21st century. The most important job for the Federal Government is
to protect you. After 9/11, I vowed that we would do everything in our
power to prevent a further attack. We're at war with an enemy that would
like to hurt us again. I know some would hope that the President
wouldn't say that, but that's the reality of the world in which live. I
live it every day. I think about the importance of defending this
country every single day of my Presidency.
It's important to have Members of Congress who see the world the way
it is and who understand the nature of the enemy. These are evil people
who have taken the tenets of a great religion and used it to their ends
to achieve objectives. These are ideologues. These are people bound by
an ideology of hate. Their ideology is opposite of what we believe. We
believe that anybody can worship any way they want and be an equal
citizen of the United States of America. We believe Jew, Muslim,
Christian, atheist, agnostic are all equally American. We believe in the
great right of an individual to choose how to worship as they see fit.
The enemy says, ``If you don't worship the way we worship, you're
guilty.''
We believe in dissent in the public square. Oh, sometimes it gets a
little loud, but nevertheless, we welcome dissent. We welcome the fact
that in our country, people can express themselves any way they want. If
you express dissent with these ideologues, they will hold you to
account. They have a dark vision of the world. It stands in stark
contrast with those of us who believe in liberty, who love freedom. And
they'll do anything they can to drive us out of parts of the world so
they can achieve their ambitions. They will murder innocent lives in the
hopes that the United States of America will lose its will to confront
them.
After 9/11, I vowed that in order to protect the United States of
America, we must stay on the offense. We must defeat the enemy overseas
so we don't have to face them here. We must bring them to justice before
they hurt Americans again. And that's what we're doing. We're on the
offense every single day. It's hard to plot, plan, and kill when you're
running or when you're hiding in a cave. We've got fantastic people
working on your behalf, unbelievably brave men and women in our
intelligence services or in the United States military who are pressing
this enemy every single day.
And now we're involved in a great conflict in the war on terror in
Iraq. And there's a debate in Washington, DC, and the debate is whether
or not Iraq is a part of the war on terror. You'll hear the Democrats
say, ``Well, it's a distraction on the war on terror.'' I strongly
disagree. I fully understand the nature of this enemy. I fully
understand their intent is to drive us out of the Middle East so they
can topple moderate governments and get a hold of oil resources, develop
weapons of mass destruction and safe havens from which to attack the
United States again.
If you don't believe me, listen to the words of Usama bin Laden and
the number two of Al Qaida, Zawahiri. They have made their intentions
clear. They have made it clear that Iraq is a central front in this war
on terror. They have made their intentions known, out loud--well, they
probably didn't want us to hear it, but, nevertheless, we did--that they
want to drive us out of Iraq. It's just a matter of time, in their mind.
They believe that the lessons of Somalia will apply to Iraq. They think
that with enough carnage and bloodshed and death and the murder of the
innocent, the United States will let them have their way.
They're wrong. The United States understands that the security of
the United States of America, for our children, depends upon victory in
Iraq. We will stand with the 12 million brave citizens who demanded
their freedom. We will help the new unity Government succeed. We will
train Iraqis so they can take the fight to the enemy. In the meantime,
we will stay in the battlefield and achieve the victory for a generation
of Americans to come.
Right after 9/11, I said to the American people, we'll make sure
that those on the frontline of defending this country have the tools
necessary to do so. The reason I said that is because I understand the
nature of this war. See, it's a different kind of battle. The old World
War II vets here--and I thank you for your service--will remember--or
the
[[Page 1738]]
Korean war vets--will remember the days that you could measure success
against an enemy based upon the number of ships sunk or aircraft shot
out of the air. This is a different kind of war. It's a war that depends
upon our capacity to find individuals and bring them to justice before
they strike again. And therefore, it requires intelligence and tools
that we didn't need in other wars.
And so I vowed--and the reason I know this is because, you see,
we've got to be right 100 percent of the time to protect you. And the
enemy has got to be right one time. And therefore, I worked with people
like Rick Renzi and other Members of Congress to make sure those on the
frontline of terror had what it needed--had what they needed to defend
you.
That's why I proposed and worked hard to pass the PATRIOT Act. See,
the PATRIOT Act--prior to the PATRIOT Act, intelligence and law
enforcement could not communicate. I know that's hard for you to
believe, but matter--somebody whose job it is to collect intelligence on
what might be happening in the United States, and because of walls that
had grown up over the years, it was impossible for them to share that
intelligence with law enforcement. You cannot protect the United States
if our--those responsible for protecting you cannot communicate.
And so I said to Congress, ``This is ridiculous. Let's tear down the
walls that prevented good people from talking.'' And they agreed. The
House passed a bill; right after 2001, the Senate did, 98 to 1. But I
want you all to remember, when the bill came up again for renewal in
2005, Democrat Senators filibustered the bill. Evidently, their attitude
changed. Filibuster is Washington-speak for, like, try to talk it to
death. I promise I'm not going to filibuster you here today. [Laughter]
As a matter of fact, during that period--I think it is illustrative for
people to hear the words of the Senator minority leader. He bragged,
``We killed the PATRIOT Act.'' That's what he said. And then when
pressed by the press, he said--they said, ``Are you sure this is the
right thing to do, to celebrate killing the PATRIOT''--he said, ``Of
course it is.''
See, we just have a different attitude about the war on terror. My
attitude is, we've got to give people the tools necessary to protect you
and not wait for another attack. You know, they filibustered the PATRIOT
Act and then--after they had voted for it--kind of sounds familiar.
[Laughter] That old refrain from 2004--[laughter]--appears to be coming
back to--coming back into the political dialog.
The reason I bring this up is, in an election year, I want the
American people and the people of Arizona to understand, there is a
clear difference of opinion about how to protect this country. Oh, they
can talk good talk. But when it came time to vote, the American people
can see exactly where the Democrat Party stands in protecting this
country.
You might remember that I instituted a program through the National
Security Agency to establish what's called the terrorist surveillance
program. I felt it was very important for those of us whose job it is to
protect you to understand the nature of the enemy. And if somebody from
Al Qaida is calling into the United States, in order to protect you, we
need to know why and what they're planning and what they're thinking.
See, this is a different kind of war, and we need to know the intention
of the enemy now in order to protect you from attack.
This bill came up--the idea of providing additional authority for
the terrorist surveillance program came to the House floor recently. And
there was a vote, and people got to stand up and declare whether or not
this program was important: 177 Democrats voted against listening in on
terrorist communications; 177 of the opposition party said, ``You know,
we don't think we ought to be listening to the conversations of
terrorists.''
If the people of Arizona, if the people of the United States don't
think we ought to be listening in on the conversations of people who
could do harm to the United States, then go ahead and vote for the
Democrats. If you want to make sure those on the frontline of protecting
you have the tools necessary to do so, you vote Republican, for the
safety of the United States of America.
After the 9/11 attacks, I established a CIA program to detain and
question key terrorist operatives and leaders who we captured on
[[Page 1739]]
the battlefield. I did so because I believed that those who were
responsible--we think were responsible for planning attacks, such as the
9/11 attack, might be able to tell us some information about how the
enemy operates, where they operate, and what they intend. I understand
this is a different kind of war and our most solemn duty is to protect
you. And I felt--I know it's vital to get this kind of information. For
5 years, really fine professional people at the CIA have worked
tirelessly to get information from these captured terrorists.
It's important for people of Arizona and the Nation to understand
what this program has meant to our security. Information from the
terrorists questioned by the CIA helped break up a cell of Southeast
Asian extremists and terrorist operatives who had been groomed for
attacks inside the United States of America. The program helped stop an
Al Qaida cell from developing anthrax for attacks against the United
States. Information that we gained helped to stop a planned strike on a
Marine base in Djibouti and helped prevent an attack on the U.S.
consulate in Karachi and helped foil a plot to hijack passenger planes
and fly them into Heathrow and London's Canary Wharf.
The reason I bring--I declassified this information because I wanted
the American people to understand the stakes of the debate on the
detainee program, and I wanted them to understand with clarity that this
program is essential to help get information to protect you. Were it not
for information gained from the terrorists questioned by the CIA, our
intelligence community believes that Al Qaida and its allies would have
succeeded in launching another attack against the United States of
America. And these are the facts.
And the Congress held a vote on the future of this CIA program, and
the choice between every Member of Congress was clear: Should this
program continue or not? Congress, fortunately, continued the program.
I'm going to sign it into law, and I thank them for their leadership.
But I want you to understand what happened during this vote. In the
House of Representatives, 160 Democrats, including the entire Democrat
leadership, voted against continuing the program. I want you to
understand that I would never question a person's patriotism; I don't.
They just have a different point of view about the war on terror, and
it's a point of view that the American people must understand.
Think about that vote. Think about what it says between different
philosophies. Think about the difference of how we view the world.
Eighty percent of the House Democrats--nearly 80 percent want to stop
the program that has provided invaluable intelligence that saved lives,
that saved lives of the United States of America. In the Senate, 32
Democrats, including every member of their Senate leadership save one,
voted to kill the vital program. This means that nearly three-quarters
of the Democrats in the United States Senate voted to stop the men and
women of the CIA from continuing a program to get information from
extremists and terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed about planned
attacks on the United States of America.
We just think differently. And it's important, during a campaign,
for the American people to understand the facts. There is a difference
between rhetoric and action in Washington, DC. And the votes of the
Democrats to deny the tools necessary to protect you speak loud and
clear about their vision of the world in which we live.
We've got a clear record. We believe strongly that we must take
action to prevent attacks from happening in the first place. They view
this election--they view the threats we face like law enforcement, and
that is, we respond after we're attacked. And it's a fundamental
difference, and I will travel this country for the next 5 weeks making
it clear the difference of opinion.
You know, the House Democrat Leader summed up her party's approach
to the midterm elections this way. She said, ``This election should not
be about national security.'' I strongly disagree. There's an enemy that
wants to hurt the American people. The most solemn responsibility of the
President and those of us who have been honored to serve you is to do
what is necessary to protect the American people, and we will continue
to do so.
I'm optimistic we will prevail in the great ideological struggle of
the 21st century. You
[[Page 1740]]
are witnessing historic times, and this is an historic election. You're
witnessing a struggle between moderation and extremists, tyranny and
freedom. You're witnessing a struggle between those who would impose
their dark vision on others and people who just want to live in peace.
These are historic times, and it's going to require strong U.S.
leadership to help win this ideological struggle.
But I have got great faith. I believe in the universality of
freedom. I believe all souls want to be free, and if given a chance,
they will help us yield the peace we want. I believe the hard work that
we're doing to protect you is also laying the foundation of peace for
generations to come. I want it to be said when people look back at this
moment of history that the United States of America had confidence in
the values that caused our founding to begin in the first place; that we
believed strongly in an obligation to help others realize the blessings
and benefits of liberty. We did our duty; we did what we were called to
do. And that's going to happen.
I want to thank you for your interest. I thank you for supporting
good, solid people who share my vision of peace. May God bless you all,
and may God continue to bless the United States.
Note: The President spoke at 8:32 a.m. at the Camelback Inn. In his
remarks, he referred to Caryll Kyl, wife of Senator Jon Kyl; Usama bin
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, senior Al Qaida leader responsible for planning the September
11, 2001, terrorist attack, who was captured in Pakistan on March 1,
2003.