Remarks in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 23, 2004

August 18, 2004

The President. Thank you all for coming. It's great to be here in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. What a beautiful day. You know what I think? I think Wisconsin is "W" country. I'm proud to be here. I appreciate this warm hospitality. You know, my opponent said the other day, "You can find the heart and soul in Hollywood." I think you find it right here in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. I'm glad to be with the heart and soul of America. And I'm here to ask for your vote. I believe if you're seeking the vote, you've got to go ask for it. I'm here to tell you I've got more work to do to make this country safer and stronger and better for every single citizen. And I appreciate you coming out to say hello.

I'm sorry Laura is not with me.

Audience members. Aw-w-w!

The President. No, I know it. She's in Colorado today campaigning. She is a fantastic First Lady, a great mom, and I love her dearly. Listen, I'm going to give you some reasons to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one is so that Laura is the First Lady for 4 more years.

I'm running with a good man. They call it the Bush-Cheney ticket. I'm proud to be running with Dick Cheney. Now listen, I admit to you, he isn't the prettiest one in the race. [Laughter] I didn't pick him for his looks. [Laughter] I picked him for his judgment, his experience. I picked him because he can get the job done.

I appreciate the Kell boys for having us over here, John and Tom. I love to come to places where people are entrepreneurial, where people are willing to expand the job base. That's what it's all about in this country, to elevate the entrepreneurial spirit. And the Kells represent that spirit, and I'm honored that you would have us here.

I appreciate being on the same stage with my friend Congressman Mark Green. He's a good man. Treasurer Jack Voight is with us as well. I appreciate you being here, Jack. I'm honored you're here. I want to thank the mayor, Mayor Doug Sandvick, for being here. Mr. Mayor, thanks for coming. My only advice to you, Mr. Mayor, is fill the potholes.

State Senator Dale Schultz, the next Congressman from this part of the world, is with us today. I hope you put him in to the United States Congress. He'll do a fine job for the people of this part of the world. I appreciate all the State and local officials here. I want to thank everybody for organizing this fantastic event.

I know you join me in congratulating the Hamm brothers from the great State of Wisconsin for their performance in the Olympics. I know they made the people of Wisconsin proud. They made this Texan proud too.

Most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank the grassroots activists who are here, people putting up the signs, the people making the phone calls. I urge you to continue to register people to vote. We have a duty in this country to vote. In a free land, people must participate in the elections. So do your duty as grassroots activists and continue to register people. Convince everybody to vote, and when you get them headed to the polls, remind them George Bush and Dick Cheney are willing and ready to lead this country for 4 more years.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. I'm traveling your State a lot. And I'm enjoying every minute of it. You know why I'm coming back? We were close last time. With your help, this time we will carry Wisconsin and have a great victory in November of 2004.

In the past few years, we have been through a lot together, and we've accomplished a great deal. But there's only one reason to look backward at the record, and that is to determine who best to lead us forward. I'm asking for your vote because so much is at stake. I'm asking for your vote because we have so much more to do to move this country forward. We've got more to do to create jobs and improve schools, from fighting terror to spreading the peace. We've made much progress, and we will do more on behalf of the American people.

We got more to do to make our public schools the centers of excellence we all know they can be, so that no child is left behind in America. You might remember what it was like 3 1/2 years ago. We were spending money at the Federal level, but year after year, children were being shuffled from grade to grade without learning the basics. I went to Washington to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I wanted to raise the bar. We've increased Federal funding, but now we're asking the question that you expect us to ask: Can our children read and write and add and subtract? And if not, we'll make sure they get help early. We believe in local control of schools. We believe in parental involvement, and we will challenge the status quo when we find schools that will not teach and will not change.

There's more work to be done. We want to have early intervention programs. We want to make sure we intervene in junior high when children can't read and write. We want to make sure we emphasize math and science so our kids have got the capabilities of competing in the 21st century. We want our high school diplomas to mean something. After 4 more years, a rising generation of youngsters will have the skills and the confidence necessary to realize the great promise of the American Dream.