[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 42 (Monday, October 23, 2006)]
[Pages 1850-1854]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Senatorial Candidate George Allen in
Richmond, Virginia
October 19, 2006
Thank you all. Thank you for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome,
and thank you for supporting George Allen to be reelected United States
Senator of the great State of Virginia.
I'm proud to be here with him. He's a man who has earned the
confidence of the people of this State as a delegate, as the Governor--
and a very successful Governor--as a United States Senator. He's the
kind of fellow who says he's going to--what he tells you on the campaign
trail, he does in office. He doesn't need a poll or a focus group to
tell him what to think or what to say. George Allen is a man of strong
principle; he is a leader; he is the right man to be the United States
Senator from the State of Virginia.
And he married well, and so did I. See, we got something in common--
we're both named George, and we both married smart, beautiful women.
Laura is very fond of the Allens. She understands that they are
honorable, decent people--honest, good folks. We're proud to call them
friends, and I know the people of Virginia are proud to call George
Allen United States Senator.
I appreciate the Lieutenant Governor--Lieutenant Governor Bill
Bolling and his wife, Jean Ann, and the family are with us today.
Governor, thanks for coming. Speaker Bill Howell is with us. Appreciate
you being here, Mr. Speaker.
I had the honor of meeting an interesting fellow at the airport
today--as a matter of fact, he was at the steps there when I got off of
Air Force One, and we traveled throughout his senatorial district a
little bit because we went and bought some pumpkins. [Laughter] His name
is State Senator Benny Lambert. See, the Allen campaign understands that
you reach across party line. He did that as the Governor of the State of
Virginia; he has done that as the United States Senator. There's no
doubt in my mind this good man will win by getting the votes of
Republicans, discerning Democrats, and wise independents.
I really want to thank you all for coming. I appreciate you
contributing to his campaign, and I want to thank the grassroots
activists who are here for what you're fixing to do. See, we're getting
close to voting time. We're coming down the stretch. And for those of
you who are going to be putting up the signs and making the phone calls
and going to your houses of worship or community centers urging people
to do their duty as an American citizen and voting for George Allen, I
want to thank you. A lot of times the grassroots folks don't get the
thanks that you deserve. I'm here giving you thanks; I know the Senator
gives you thanks. Work hard. We need him in the United States Senate,
for the good of the United States of America.
I'm looking forward to continue to working with Senator Allen to
diversify our energy. I'm looking forward to promoting ethanol and new
technologies so that we can change our habits and become less dependent
on foreign sources of oil. For the economic security of the United
States and for the national security of the United States, we need to
get off oil.
I'm looking forward to continue to work with Senator Allen to make
sure that patients and doctors make the decisions for health care, not
for people in Washington, DC. Now, there's a lot of domestic issues that
I look forward to working with Senator Allen on, but there's no bigger
issue than what we do with the people's money--no bigger issue.
There's a lot of rhetoric in these campaigns, a lot of needless
noise in a campaign. A lot of time it's to obscure the fundamental
issues facing the people of Virginia and the people all across our
Nation. And the two biggest issues in this campaign, in any campaign
across the country, is which party will take the steps necessary to
protect the American people and win the war on terror, and which party
is going to keep your taxes low to keep this economy growing.
George Allen and I have made our position very plain. Nobody has to
guess where we stand. We got a clear record on taxes, and our philosophy
is easy to understand. It says: We trust the people. See, we understand
it's your money, not the government's money. We think the best people to
spend the hard-
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earned dollars that you make is you. We understand the economy grows
when you have more money in your pocket to save, spend, or invest.
And therefore, we worked together to deliver the greatest tax cuts
since Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. We said, if
you're going to have tax relief, then everybody who pays taxes ought to
get relief. So we reduced the marriage penalty as well. We doubled the
child tax credit. We understand that an economy grows when the small-
business owners are growing. And so we cut taxes on small businesses; we
cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to promote investment and jobs.
And to reward family businesses and farmers right here in the great
State of Virginia for a lifetime of hard work and savings, we put the
death tax on the road to extinction.
Our record on cutting taxes is clear, and the Democrats in
Washington, DC, have a record of their own. The trouble is, they don't
want you to know about it. [Laughter] It's interesting that recently the
top Democrat leader in the House of Representatives made an interesting
declaration. She said, ``We love tax cuts.'' Given her record, she must
be a secret admirer. [Laughter] It's just not the so-called ``tax cuts
for the rich'' she opposes.
When we cut taxes for everybody who pays income taxes, she voted
against it. When we reduced the marriage penalty, she voted against it.
When we cut taxes on small businesses, she voted against it. When we put
the death tax on the road to extinction, she voted against it. Time and
time again, she and her party voted against tax cuts. Time and time
again, when she had an opportunity to show her love for tax cuts, she
voted no. If this is the Democrats' idea of love--[laughter]--I wouldn't
want to see what hate looks like. [Laughter]
But, by the way, this view of taxes extends beyond the House of
Representatives. Democrats in the United States Senate had the same
point of view. I remember when we cut the taxes in 2003. See, we were
coming out of a recession, and we were dealing with the effects of a
terrorist attack, and we were dealing with the effects of corporate
scandal. And we knew that in order to recover, we had to let the people
have more of their own money.
And one Democrat in the Senate said these tax cuts would do nothing
to create jobs. One of his colleagues called the tax cuts the wrong
prescription for our economy. Those were the predictions, and here are
the results: The tax cuts we passed have put more than a trillion
dollars in the hands of American workers and families and small
businesses--including millions of families living right here in
Virginia. And the amazing thing is, the people did a much better job
with your money than the Government did or could have done.
Since August 2003, our economy has had 37 straight months of job
growth. Since August of 2003, we added 6.6 million new jobs. Small
businesses are flourishing. Homeownership is up. This economy is strong,
and we intend to keep it that way.
You know, I'm sure you've heard the line that the Democrats are just
going to raise taxes on the rich. They say it every time. But I want the
people here in Virginia who are listening to the debate on taxes to
remember what happened back in 1992, after the Democrats campaigned on
cutting the taxes for the middle class. Well, they won, and they came to
power, and the middle class tax cut they promised turned out to be one
of the largest tax increases in American history.
We just have a different view of the world when it comes to taxes.
We believe you can spend your money well. The Democrats want the
Government to spend your money. No, the best way to make sure that this
economy stays strong is to make the tax cuts we passed permanent. And
the best thing the Virginia citizens can do to make sure taxes stay low
is to send George Allen back to the United States Senate.
It's interesting, if you look at the history of tax cuts, the
Democrat Party always--didn't always feel the way they feel today. Back
in the sixties, the Democrats understood that our economy grows when
Americans keep more of what they earn, when Americans make their own
decisions about how to save, spend, or invest. You might remember, when
President John F. Kennedy became President, he proposed across-the-
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board tax cuts for American families and small businesses, including tax
cuts on capital gains.
In his message to the Congress in 1963, he explained that cutting
taxes across the board, in his words, ``would help strengthen every
segment of the American economy and bring us closer to every basic
objective of American economic policy.'' John F. Kennedy was right in
1963, and George Allen and I are right in 2006.
Next month, the people of this State and people all across the
United States have a basic choice to make: Do we keep taxes low so we
can keep the economy growing, or do we let the Democrats in Washington
raise taxes, which will hurt our economic growth? And I'm convinced,
when people sift through all the noise and listen carefully to the
debate, the people of this State and the people across the United States
will choose low taxes and strong economy policy and growth, and that
means reelecting George Allen to the United States Senate.
The biggest issue we face is protecting the American people. It's
the most important job of government. I learned that lesson on September
the 11th, 2001, and so did George Allen and a lot of other good folks.
And we learned that fateful day that our most important responsibility
is to protect you, and this is a fundamental issue in this campaign:
What candidate or what party has got the right policies to protect the
American people from further attack?
We face a brutal enemy--an enemy that uses murder to achieve
political objectives. You can't negotiate with these people. There's no
such thing as a peace treaty with these kind of killers. The best way to
protect the American people is to stay on the offense and bring them to
justice before they hurt America again.
And the best way to protect America is to give our professionals the
tools they need to protect you from attack. We recently had a debate--a
series of debates in the House and the Senate that clarified the two
political parties' position on the war on terror on how best to protect
the American people.
I believe strongly that our CIA professionals should have
authorization to question people we pick up on the battlefield, to
determine whether or not they have information that is necessary to
protect you. We're at war with a group of killers. We pick people up off
the battlefield, and I believe that it's necessary to learn what they
know so that we can anticipate attacks before they occur.
This bill came up before the--in front of the United States Senate,
and one of the strongest advocates for making sure our professionals had
the tools necessary to protect you was Senator George Allen of the State
of Virginia.
The same cannot be said for his Democratic Senate colleagues. More
than 70 percent of the United States Senators from the Democrat Party
voted to take away this vital tool in the war on terror. We just have a
different point of view, a different look at the world.
You know, another clear example of the difference of opinion came
when we voted for and reauthorized what we call the PATRIOT Act. There
was a wall that existed between law enforcement and intelligence
gathering in the United States. I know that's hard to conceive, but it's
true. In other words, intelligence officers could not speak with law
enforcement officers. In this new war on terror against these extremists
we have to have good intelligence. And that good intelligence must be
shared with professionals all throughout government, in order to be able
to protect you.
Right after September the 11th, when people were deeply concerned
about attacks and future attacks, George Allen voted yes on the PATRIOT
Act, as did 97 of his colleagues in the Senate. And yet the bill needed
to be reauthorized years later. And so I called upon the Senate. I said,
``There's still a threat; we still face a threat.'' And yet Senate
Democrats filibustered the bill, the reauthorization of a bill that
would tear down the walls between intelligence and law enforcement.
Filibuster means they don't want it to pass, so they talk a lot.
[Laughter] It happens quite a bit in Washington. [Laughter] The Senate
Democratic leader bragged, ``We have killed the PATRIOT Act.'' Think
about that. The main Democrat in the United States Senate said, ``We
killed the PATRIOT
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Act.'' He was asked later by a reporter whether killing the PATRIOT Act
was really something to celebrate, and he answered, ``Of course it is.''
There's a fundamental difference of opinion between Democrats and
Republicans on this issue. They voted for it right after 9/11; they
tried to kill it 5 years later. Kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it?
[Laughter] They voted for it right before they voted against it.
[Laughter] You don't have to worry about George Allen being steadfast
and making sure our folks have the tools necessary to protect you. A
fundamental issue in this campaign is--who best to protect the United
States of America. Our record is clear, and you need to send George
Allen back to the United States Senate so we can do our duty, so we can
assume the responsibilities of this era and protect you from further
attack.
A big issue in this campaign, of course, is Iraq. Iraq is a central
front in the war on terror. Iraq is a part of defeating an enemy that
would like to hurt us again. Oh, I know--I've heard all the rhetoric;
I'm sure you've heard it too, that people say Iraq is just a distraction
from the war on terror. That's what a lot of Democrats believe. Well, if
you're out there listening and you're worried about who to vote for and
worried about which party has the clearest vision about how to protect
the American people, don't take my word for whether Iraq is part of the
war on terror, listen to Usama bin Laden--or Mr. Zawahiri, he's the
number-two man in Al Qaida.
These two killers have made it clear that Iraq is an important part
of their campaign to establish a totalitarian form of government across
the Middle East. They have made it clear in their words that they
believe America is weak, that it's just a matter of time; if they murder
enough people, that we will withdraw.
And they want us to withdraw. They want us to withdraw so that they
can establish safe haven from which to launch attacks. They want us to
withdraw so they can topple moderate governments. They want us to
withdraw because they got designs on energy. They would like nothing
more than to blackmail the free world with the fear of running up the
price of energy; blackmail the free world to abandon our alliance with
Israel; blackmail the free world to continue to force the West to cater
to their needs and their dark vision of the world.
When you couple all that with the possibility of Iran having a
nuclear weapon, you begin to understand the stakes in the war on terror.
You begin to think about how important it is that when we confront the
enemy, we defeat the enemy.
I fully understand--[applause]--we have a fundamental disagreement
in Washington, DC, on this central front in the war on terror. Most
Democrats--most leading Democrats argue we should pull our troops out of
Iraq--some, ``right away''; others, ``in just a few months,'' even if
the terrorists have not been defeated. Others recommend moving our
troops to an island 5,000 miles away. Nineteen House Democrats
introduced legislation that would cut off funds for our troops in Iraq.
All these programs have one thing in common--they would have our country
quit in Iraq before the job is done. That's why they are the party of
cut-and-run.
The United States of America will support our allies in Iraq. We
will stand with the 12 million people who demanded freedom at the ballot
box. Our goal of Iraq that can defend itself and govern itself and
sustain itself and an ally in the war on terror is an important goal. We
will give our commanders the flexibility they need to continue to change
the tactics to achieve that goal. We will fight; we will stay; and we
will win in Iraq.
And I want to thank Senator Allen's stand. This is tough; this is a
tough fight. It's a tough fight when we see carnage on our television
screens. It's a tough fight when somebody you know has volunteered to
serve the United States and doesn't come home. It's tough, but it's
tough for a reason: because the enemy understands the stakes in Iraq.
They have ambitions. And it's up to this generation to stand with our
troops, to put forth a strategy for victory, to not abandon those voices
in the Middle East--the millions of people who simply want to live in
peace. This is the calling of our time.
You know, the Democrat Party made a clear statement about the nature
of their party when it came to how they dealt with Senator Joe
Lieberman. He's a three-term
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Democrat from Connecticut who supports completing the mission in Iraq.
He took a strong, principled stand, and he was purged from the Democrat
Party. Think about what it means. Six years ago, the Democrats thought
that Joe Lieberman was a good enough man and a good enough politician to
run as the Vice Presidential candidate. Now, because he supports victory
in Iraq for the sake of security in the United States, they don't think
he's fit to be in their party. There's only one position in the
Democratic Party that everybody seems to agree on: If you want to be a
Democrat these days, you can be for almost anything, but victory in Iraq
is not an option.
These are serious times. It requires steadfast leadership, strong
determination. People like George Allen need to be reelected--to stand
strongly with our troops, the voices that desire peace. We'll stay on
the offense; we will keep the enemy on the run. We will do the hard
fight now so a generation of Americans can grow up in peace. We've got
fantastic assets on our side. We've got a military that will get all the
support and training they need to defend the American people.
We also have the power of liberty. Freedom is a powerful force. You
know, I like to tell people about an interesting experience I had.
That's when I went to Elvis's place--[laughter]--with the then sitting
Prime Minister of Japan. I went down there. I'd never been to Elvis's
place. I thought it would be interesting to go there. [Laughter] Prime
Minister Koizumi wanted to go to Elvis's place because he loves Elvis.
[Laughter]
But I wanted to tell a story, and I'm going to tell it to you right
quick, the reason I went. You might remember, my dad, and I know some of
your relatives, fought the Japanese as a sworn enemy. There was a lot of
kids in the early forties that signed up to fight the Japanese. They had
attacked us, and this country was going to defend ourselves.
I find it amazing, and I hope you do too, that the son of Navy pilot
George H.W. Bush, the sitting President of the United States, is on Air
Force One, flying down with the Prime Minister of the former enemy
talking about the peace. We're talking about North Korea and how we can
work together to convince the leader in North Korea to give up his
nuclear weapons ambitions. We're talking about the fact that Japan had
1,000 troops in Iraq because Prime Minister Koizumi and I know that
freedom is how you defeat an ideology of hatred; that we understand that
when you encourage liberty to flourish where it hadn't flourished, it
provides hope. It helps defeat those who prey on hopelessness.
It's an amazing conversation--I've had several with him. But every
time I have sat down with him, I find it interesting fact of history
that my dad fought the Japanese, and today, his son is working to keep
the peace. Something happened. Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy.
It's--the example is, liberty has the capacity to change an enemy into
an ally. Liberty has the capacity to turn a region of hate into a region
of compassion. Someday, an American President will be sitting down
talking about the peace with duly elected leaders from the Middle East,
and a generation of Americans will be better off.
God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 5:33 p.m. at the Science Museum of
Virginia. In his remarks, he referred to Susan Allen, wife of Senator
George Allen; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist
organization; former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and
Chairman Kim Jong Il of North Korea.