Remarks by the President at a Victory 2004 Rally

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of
remarks by the President at a Victory 2004 Rally:

    The White House
    Office of the Press Secretary
    (Poplar Bluff, Missouri)

    Ray Clinton Park
    Poplar Bluff, Missouri

    6:08 P.M. CDT

    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all.  Thanks for coming.  (Applause.)  I'm glad
to be here, celebrating Labor Day with you.  (Applause.)  It's good to be in a
part of the world where the cowboy hats outnumber the ties. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming.  You know, you might have heard I got an interesting
invitation to come here to Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  (Applause.) I get a lot of
invitations.  I've never gotten one with 10,000 signatures on it.  (Applause.)
But I was somewhat surprised when we choppered over here, because it looks
like there's a lot more people than 10,000 that have come today.  (Applause.)
    Thanks for coming.  Thanks for having me.  It's a beautiful part of the
world.  People are good people here.  I'm proud to be here, to ask for your
vote.  (Applause.)  You sure know how to make a President feel welcome.
(Applause.)
    And I know you will join me in wishing President Clinton the very best
wishes in the recovery from his surgery.  (Applause.)  His surgery went well,
which is good news.  And we just pray for a speedy recovery for the former
President.  (Applause.)
    My one regret today is I wish Laura were here to see the size of this
crowd.  (Applause.)  You know, she was a public school librarian when I asked
her to marry me.  She was working at an elementary school, and she said,
"Fine, I'll marry you, so long as I never have to give a political speech."
(Laughter.)  I said, "Okay."  (Laughter.)  Fortunately, it's not a promise she
held me to.  She gave a fantastic speech.  (Applause.)  She's a great mom.
She is a wonderful wife.  She is a great First Lady.  I'm going to give you
some reasons to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one of all is
so that Laura is First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)

    AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

    THE PRESIDENT:  I'm proud to be running for a second term with my friend,
Dick Cheney.  (Applause.)  He doesn't have the -- he doesn't have the waviest
hair in the race.  (Laughter.)  I didn't pick him for his hairdo.  (Laughter.)
I picked him because he has good judgment, great experience, and he can get
the job done.  (Applause.)
    I appreciate my friend, Jo Ann Emerson, the fine Congresswoman from this
district.  (Applause.)  She's a pleasure to work with.  Every time I see her,
she says, "Remember Missouri."  (Applause.)  And so does your Senator, Kit
Bond.  I'm proud to be here with Kit.  (Applause.)  I'm asking you to put me
back in there, but make sure, as you do, put him in, too. He's a great United
States Senator.  (Applause.)  Give him six more years. (Applause.)
    And Jim Talent, Jim Talent is a fine senator, as well.  (Applause.) As
they say down in Crawford, he's making a good hand.  (Laughter.)  Smart guy,
good, honest man.  I appreciate being with him.  It's good to be here with
your next governor, Matt Blunt.  (Applause.)  I appreciate my friend, Peter
Kinder here.  He's representing the state senate.  (Applause.)  It looks like
his cousin came.  (Laughter.)  House Speaker, Catherine Hanaway is with us.
I'm proud you're here.  (Applause.)
    I want to thank Mayor Lloyd Matthews.  Mr. Mayor, thank you so very much
for this very generous and kind introduction -- invitation to be here. It
means a lot.  And I also want to thank Hardy Billington and David Hahn.
(Applause.)  These are local veterans -- these boys sure know how to throw a
party.  (Applause.)  I want to thank the Sho-Me Marching Band. (Applause.)
Thank you all for coming.  Poplar Bluff High School, I appreciate you all
being here.
    Most of all, I want to thank you all for coming on Labor Day.  It means a
lot.  Well, I'm glad to be here.  (Applause.)  But I'm not only asking for the
vote, I'm asking for your help.  I think it's really important in our society
to vote.  I believe in a free society, we have an obligation to participate in
our elections.
    So I'm asking you to register your friends and neighbors.  Don't overlook
discerning Democrats; people like Zell Miller.  (Applause.)  Zell Miller
knows.  There's a lot of good Democrats in this part of the world that
understand that Dick Cheney and I will make this world safer, stronger and
better for every single American.  (Applause.)  And if you're a Democrat or
independent, you're welcome here.  We're glad you're here.
    And then when you get people heading to the polls, after you register
them, get them leaning our way.  Get them to come our way.  (Applause.)  I
want to thank you for your help, I want to thank you for what you're going to
do, coming down the stretch run.  There's no doubt in my mind, with your help,
we'll carry Missouri again and win the big election in November of '04.
(Applause.)
    I'm looking forward to this race.  I am.  I like to get out with the
people.  I'm looking forward to telling the people of this country where I
stand, what I believe, and where I'll lead this country.  (Applause.)  I
believe every child can learn and that every school must teach. (Applause.)
That's why we passed important reforms of our schools in Washington.  See,
we're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. (Applause.)
I believe if you lower the bar, you're going to get lousy results.  I believe
if you believe in the best and worth of every child and raise that bar, you're
going to get excellent results.  (Applause.)
    I believe it's important to measure early, so you can solve problems
early, before it's too late.  We've got to stop this practice of just
shuffling kids through school whether they can read, write, add, and subtract
or not.  (Applause.)  I believe in local control of schools.  And I know we're
making progress closing the achievement gap in America, and we're not turning
back.  (Applause.)
    I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with good
health care.  (Applause.)  You might remember the old Medicare debate. They
called it, "Mediscare."  (Laughter.)  People would talk about it, then they
would beat you over the head politically with the issue.  But I went to
Washington to fix things.  I went to Washington to solve problems. Listen, the
old Medicare system, which worked well for a lot of seniors, got outdated.
After all, it would pay $100,000 for heart surgery, but wouldn't pay for the
medicine to prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first place.
(Applause.)  So we strengthened and modernized Medicare.  Our seniors got
choices.  And beginning in 2006, there's going to prescription drug coverage
for our seniors.  (Applause.)  And we are not going to turn back.
    I believe in the energy and innovation of our farmers and workers and
small business owners and ranchers.  And that's why we unleashed that energy
with the largest tax relief in a generation.  (Applause.)  When you're out
there gathering up the vote, I want you to remind your friends and neighbors
what we have been through.  We've been through a recession, we've been through
corporate scandals, we've been through a terrorist attack, all of which
affected our economy, but we're overcoming those obstacles.  (Applause.)
    This economy, because of our tax relief and because we've got great people
in this country who refuse to be intimidated, who believe in a future, is
strong and it's getting stronger.  Last Friday, we showed we added 144,000 new
jobs in August -- (applause) -- 1.7 million since August of '03.  The national
unemployment rate has fallen to 5.4 percent. (Applause.)  That is lower than
the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s.  (Applause.)
    I believe a President must confront problems and not pass them on to
future generations and future presidents.  (Applause.)  I believe the most
solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people.
(Applause.)  If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the
world will drift toward tragedy.  This isn't going to happen on my watch.
(Applause.)
    I'm running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a safer
world and a more hopeful America.  I'm running with a compassionate
conservative philosophy.  Government should help people improve their lives,
not try to run their lives.  (Applause.)  And I believe this nation wants
steady, consistent, principled leadership, and that is why, with your help,
we're going to score a great national victory in November. (Applause.)

    AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

    THE PRESIDENT:  The world we live in is a changing world.  You know, when
our dads were coming up, a person was likely to have one job at one company
and mom was going to stay at home.  That's just the way it used to be.  It's
changed here in America.  A lot of women not only work inside the home,
they're working outside the home.  Our workforce is changing.  People are
changing careers more often these days.
    And yet, the most fundamental systems, the tax code and health coverage
and pension plans and worker training, were created for the world of
yesterday, not tomorrow.  I'm running to transform these systems so that all
citizens are equipped and prepared -- and thus free -- to be able to realize
the great promise of America.  (Applause.)
    Listen, any hopeful society has got to have a growing economy.  And that's
why I've got a plan to keep this economy moving forward.  In a changing world,
America must be the best place in the world to do business. (Applause.)  That
means we've got to stop these junk lawsuits that are hounding our small
business owners in America.  (Applause.)  It means we've got to reduce the
regulations on those who employee people.
    To create jobs here in America, we need an energy plan.  Listen, I
submitted one to the Congress over two years ago.  It's a plan that encourages
conservation.  It's a plan that encourages the use of renewable sources of
energy like ethanol and biodiesel.  (Applause.)  It's a plan that encourages
clean coal technology.  It's a plan that encourages environmentally sensitive
exploration for natural gas.  But it's a plan that says, if we expect to keep
jobs in America, we must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
    We're going to keep opening up markets.  Listen, this farm economy is
strong.  You might remember what it was like in 2000.  Now, look, I understand
the farm economy is never strong enough.  (Laughter.)  And the weather is
never good enough.  (Laughter.)  The price of beans and corn are pretty high.
And one reason it's high is because I made a pledge to our farmers here in
Missouri and around the country that I would do my best to open up markets.
We want you feeding not only the American citizens, we want you feeding
everybody around the world.  (Applause.)
    To create jobs, we've got to be wise about how we spend your money in
Washington, and keep your taxes low.  (Applause.)  Listen, there's a
difference in this campaign about taxes.  I'm running against a fellow who has
promised over $2 trillion of new federal spending.  And so they said: Well,
how are you going to pay for it?  And he said:  Well, I'm going to pay for it
by just taxing the rich.  Let me tell you two things wrong with that:  One,
you can't tax the rich enough to pay for the $2 trillion in new spending.  You
can play like you can tax the rich enough to do it, but the numbers don't add
up.  Secondly, you've heard that business, haven't you, in politics, about tax
the rich?  That's why they hire accountants and lawyers, and you get stuck
with the bill.  But we're not going to let him tax you, because we're going to
win in November.  (Applause.)
    Another drag on our economy is the federal tax code.  The tax code today
is a complicated mess.  It's more than a million words long and filled with
loopholes for special interests.  This tax code weighs heavily on our economy.
(Applause.)  It weighs heavily on every American family. Sitting down to do
your taxes shouldn't require wading through more than 1 million words of
complicated rules.
    This current tax code burdens hard-working Americans with more than 6
billion hours of paperwork and headache every year.  That's about as much time
as all Missouri's workers and small business owners and farmers and ranchers
spend at work in an average year.  This tax code needs to be changed.
(Applause.)
    The tax code is so complicated even the short tax form requires more than
11 hours to prepare.  That doesn't sound very short to me.  For the sake of
economic growth and for the sake of fairness, I will lead a bipartisan team to
simplify and reform the federal tax code.  (Applause.)
    We need to do more to help our workers gain the skills necessary to fill
the jobs of the 21st century.  That's why I'll double the number of people
served by our principal job training program, and expand access to our
community colleges all across America.  (Applause.)
    Most new jobs are now filled by people with at least two hours of college
-- two years of college.  Yet one in four of our students gets there.  In our
high schools, we'll fund early intervention programs to help students at risk.
We'll place a new focus on math and science.  Over time, we'll require a
rigorous exam before graduation.  By raising performance at our high schools
and expanding Pell grants for low and middle-income families, we'll help more
Americans start their career with a college diploma.  (Applause.)
    In a time of change, we've got to make sure that we've got health care
that's available and affordable.  More than one-half of the uninsured are
small business employees and their families.  Yet small businesses are having
trouble affording health care.  To make sure they get the help they need, we
will allow small firms to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts
available to big companies.  (Applause.)
    We'll expand health savings accounts.  We've going to make sure that every
poor county in America has got a health center, a health community center or a
rural health center, so people can get the primary care they need, so we can
help people with their health care.
    But let me tell you what else we need to do.  We need to do something
about these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of your health
care and running good docs out of business.  (Applause.)  We've got an issue
in America.  Too many good docs are getting out of business.  Too many OB/GYNs
aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country.  See, I
don't think you can be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-hospital and pro-
trial lawyer at the same time.  (Applause.)  I think you've got to make a
choice.  My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket.
(Applause.)  I made my choice.  I'm for medical liability reform now.
(Applause.)  In all we do to improve health care, we will make sure that
health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in
Washington, D.C.  (Applause.)
    We'll continue to promote ownership in America.  In a changing time,
ownership can bring stability to your life.  There's nothing better than
hearing the fact that more and more people are owning their own home.  The
home ownership rate in America is at an all-time high.  We'll continue to
expand home ownership across this country.  There's nothing better than
somebody opening up their door saying, welcome to my home.  (Applause.)
Welcome to my piece of property.  (Applause.)
    As well, our retirement systems must reflect the changing time.  If you're
an older citizen, or a near-older citizen like me, a baby boomer, nothing is
going to change with your Social Security.  It's a solemn pledge this
government has made, it's a pledge that will be kept.  But we better worry
about our children and grandchildren when it comes to Social Security.
(Applause.)  I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to put some of

their taxes aside in a personal savings account to enhance their Social
Security benefit.  (Applause.)
    There's a difference of philosophy in this campaign.  If you listen
carefully to the rhetoric of my opponent, he's going to expand government.
Ours is a campaign that is going to expand opportunity.  (Applause.)  I
believe government ought to trust the people of the United States of America.
(Applause.)  In a changing world, there are some things that won't change, the
values we try to live by:  courage, compassion, reverence, and integrity.  In
a changing world, we will stand by the institutions that give us stability:
our families, our schools, and our religious congregations.  (Applause.)
    We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters and every
person counts.  (Applause.)  We stand for marriage and family, which are the
foundations of society.  (Applause.)  We stand for religious charities and
community-based organizations that provide a safety net of mercy and
compassion.  (Applause.)  Our government must never discriminate against
faith-based programs.  (Applause.)  And I stand for the appointment of federal
judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict
interpretation of the law.  (Applause.)
    This election will also determine how America responds to the continuing
danger of terrorism.  Since the terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001,
we have fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power,
but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. (Applause.)  Our strategy
is clear: we'll defend our homeland, we'll transform our military, we'll
reform and strengthen our intelligence services, we will stay on the
offensive.  (Applause.)  We will strike the terrorists abroad so we do not
have to face them here at home.  (Applause.) We will advance liberty in the
broader Middle East and around the world by staying true to our beliefs and
being resolved and firm.  We will prevail. (Applause.)
    Our strategy is succeeding.  I want you to listen to this.  Four years
ago, Afghanistan was the home base of al Qaeda, Pakistan was a transit point
for terrorist groups, Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fund-
raising, Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, Iraq was a gathering
threat, and al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as it planned its attacks.
    Because we acted, the government of Afghanistan is fighting terror,
Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders, Saudi is making raids and arrests,
Libya is dismantling its weapons programs, the army of a free Iraq is fighting
for freedom, and more than three-quarters of al Qaeda's key members and
associates have been brought to justice.  (Applause.)
    We have led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer.
(Applause.)  Progress involved careful diplomacy and clear moral purpose, and
some tough decisions.  And the toughest came on Iraq.  We knew Saddam
Hussein's record of aggression and support for terror.  Remember, he housed
Abu Nidal and his crowd.  He's the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. Zarqawi
and his bunch -- he's the guy that beheads people -- he paid the families of
suiciders.  He subsidized them.  We knew his long history of pursuing and even
using weapons of mass destruction.  We know that after September the 11th, our
country must think differently.  It's a lesson we must not forget.  We must
take threats seriously before they fully materialize.  (Applause.)
    In Saddam Hussein, we saw a threat.  So I went to the United States
Congress.  They looked at the intelligence I looked at.  They remembered the
history I remembered.  And they voted overwhelmingly to use -- to authorize
the use of force.  My opponent looked at the same intelligence I looked at.
He voted for the authorization of force.
    Before the Commander-in-Chief commits troops into combat, we must try all
means to solve a problem.  That's why I went to the United Nations.  I was
hoping that diplomacy would work.  The United Nations looked at the same
intelligence I looked at.  They remembered the same history of Saddam Hussein
that we remembered.  And they voted 15 to nothing.  And the U.N. Security
Council said to Saddam Hussein, disclose, disarm, or face serious
consequences.
    The world spoke again.  But as he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein
refused the demands of the free world.  He wasn't interested.  As a matter of
fact, when they sent inspectors into his country, he systematically deceived
them.  So I had a choice to make at this point in our history:  do I trust the
word of a madman -- AUDIENCE:  Nooo!
    THE PRESIDENT:  -- do I forget the lessons of September the 11th, or take
action to defend this country?  Given that choice, I will defend America every
time.  (Applause.)

    AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

    THE PRESIDENT:  Because we acted in our own self-interest, because we
acted to defend ourselves, 50 million people now live in freedom. (Applause.)
In Afghanistan, a country which has been brutalized by the Taliban, a country
in which many young girls didn't get to go to school, a country in which their
moms were whipped in the public squares because they didn't tow the line to
these barbarians running the country, has now registered 10 million people to
vote in the upcoming election.  (Applause.)
    Freedom is powerful.  Freedom is powerful.  Despite ongoing acts of
violence, Iraq now has a very strong Prime Minister, a national council, and
national elections will be held in Iraq in January.  (Applause.)
    We're going to stand with the people in those countries because when
America gives its word, America must keep its word.  (Applause.)  And we're
serving a vital cause.  See, free societies in the Middle East will be hopeful
societies which no longer feed resentment and breed violence for export.  Free
governments in the Middle East will fight terrorists instead of harboring
them.  And that keeps us safer and it makes the world more peaceful.
    Our mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is clear.  We will help new leaders to
train their armies so Afghan citizens and Iraqi citizens can defend their
country against the few who want us -- who want to thwart the hopes of the
many.  We'll help them move toward elections, we'll get them to the path of
stability and democracy as quickly as possible, and then our troops will
return home with the honor they have earned.  (Applause.)
    I've had the privilege of meeting many who serve.  I've seen their
unselfish courage and their great decency.  Ladies and gentlemen, the cause of
freedom is in really good hands.  (Applause.)  And I want to thank the
veterans who are here for having set such a great example to those who wear
the uniform.  (Applause.)
    I've made a commitment to our troops and to their loved ones.  They will
have all the resources, all the tools and support they need for them to do
their missions.  That's why a year ago, September, I went to Congress and
proposed $87 billion in funding for body armor, and spare parts, ammunition,
fuel, other supplies needed for our troops in combat in Afghanistan and in
Iraq.  And that really important funding request received bipartisan support.
It was so overwhelming that only 12 United States senators voted against the
funding request.  Two of whom are my opponent and his running mate.

    AUDIENCE:  Booo!

    THE PRESIDENT:  Only four United States senators voted to authorize the
use of force, and then voted against funding our troops -- only four -- and
two of those senators were my opponent and his running mate.  When asked to
explain his decision, he said, I actually did vote for the $87 billion before
I voted against it.

    AUDIENCE:  Booo!

    THE PRESIDENT:  I suspect here -- I suspect here in Poplar Bluff, not many
people talk that way.  (Applause.)  They then pressed him, and he said he's
proud of his vote.  And finally, he said it was a complicated matter. There's
nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat. (Applause.)
    After voting for the war, but against funding it, after saying he would
have voted for the war even knowing everything we know today, my opponent woke
up this morning with new campaign advisors, and yet another new position.
(Laughter.)  Suddenly, he's against it again.  (Laughter.)

    AUDIENCE:  Flip-flop!  Flip-Flop!  Flip-flop!



    THE PRESIDENT:  No matter how many times Senator Kerry changes his mind,
it was right for America then, and it's right for America now that Saddam
Hussein is no longer in power.  (Applause.)
    Over the next four years, I'll continue to work with our allies and
friends to promote freedom and peace.  There's about 40 nations involved in
Afghanistan, some 30 in Iraq.  And I appreciate their service and sacrifice,
and so do our troops.  Over the four years, we'll build these alliances and
make them stronger, but I will never turn over America's national security
decisions to leaders of other countries.  (Applause.)
    I believe in the transformational power of liberty.  The wisest use of
American strength is to advance freedom.  I believe America is called to lead
the cause of freedom.  I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in
silence for their liberty.  I believe that given the chance, they will embrace
the most honorable form of government every devised by man.  I believe all
these things because I understand freedom is not America's gift to the world,
freedom is the almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
(Applause.)
    This young century will be liberty's century.  By promoting freedom at
home and abroad, we'll build a safer world and a more hopeful America. We'll
reform our systems to help our people, to help people realize their dreams.
We'll spread ownership and opportunity to every corner of this country.  We'll
pass the enduring values of our country on to another generation.  We will
continue to lead the cause of freedom and peace -- (applause) -- the peace we
all want.
    For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand apart.
You know, there are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is
expected of its leaders.  This isn't one of those times.  This is a time that
needs -- when we need firm resolve and clear vision and a deep faith in the
values that make us a great nation.  (Applause.)
    None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
began.  I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers on September the 14th, 2001.
It's a day I will never forget.  There were workers in hard hats there,
yelling at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it takes." (Applause.)  I
remember trying to do my best to comfort people, and a guy looked me right in
the eye, and he said, "Do not let me down."  He took that day personally,
everybody there took it personally, you took it personally, and so did I.
(Applause.)  I have a duty that goes on.  I wake up every morning thinking
about how to better protect our country.  I will never relent in defending
America, whatever it takes.  (Applause.)
    Four years ago I traveled your great state, asking for the vote.  I said,
if you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of
the office to which I had been elected.  And with your help, with your hard
work, I will do so for the next four years.  (Applause.) God bless.  Thank you
for coming.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.  (Applause.) Thanks so much.
(Applause.)