President's Remarks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

10:30 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) Thank you all for coming. It seems like yesterday I was here in Wilkes-Barre. (Applause.) Come to think of it, I was. (Laughter.) I figure if I keep coming back I'll meet everybody in town. (Applause.) I'm coming back because I want you to know how important your vote is. That's why I'm here. We're close to voting time. (Applause.) I've come back to tell you how important your help is in this election. Find your friends and neighbors. Convince them to go to the polls on November the 2nd. Do not overlook discerning Democrats, people like Zell Miller. (Applause.) And remind your friends and neighbors, if they want safer America, a stronger, and a better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office. (Applause.)

I regret that Laura is not traveling with us today.........

 We will continue to improve life for our families by making health care more affordable and more accessible. We'll expand health savings accounts and creation association health plans so small businesses can cover their workers, so more families are able to get health insurance plans they manage and they call their own. We'll help families in need by expanding community health centers. We'll make sure every eligible child is enrolled in our government's low-income health insurance program. To make sure health care is available and affordable for the American citizens, we're going to do something about the junk lawsuits that run up the cost of medicine and run good doctors out of practice. (Applause.)

Doctor Linda Barrasse is with us today, a cardiologist. (Applause.) She's got a group practice in Scranton. She's just like the docs I met yesterday in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Doctors are concerned about the quality of health care in Pennsylvania because of all these junk lawsuits. They're running good docs out of practice. There are too many OB/GYNs being run out of practice, and too many Pennsylvania women having to drive for miles to get the care they need and deserve. (Applause.)

Linda talks about needing to close offices. They're having trouble recruiting new doctors. Medical liability is an issue in the Pennsylvania. It is an issue across this country. It is a national problem that requires a national solution. I am for medical liability reform. (Applause.)

Senator Kerry has a different point of view on our schools and our health care system. Now, he voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, but now wants to weaken the accountability standards. He's proposed including measures like teacher attendance in the accountability measures to judge whether students can read and write and add and subtract. He voted against health savings accounts. He opposed association health care plans that would help our small businesses. He has voted ten times against medical liability reform on the floor of the United States Senate.