Remarks at the Farm Progress Show in Alleman, Iowa

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 6, 2004

Every day is Earth Day when you own your own land. The best conservation policy starts with encouraging our farmers and ranchers to conserve. That's why I'm such a strong believer in the CRP program. It's a good program. It's good for wildlife. It's good for land. It's good for the families who make a living off the farm. Right now we have about 35 million acres of farm land in the program, and I know you know that contracts covering roughly two-thirds of the existing land in that program are scheduled to expire in 2007 and 2008. To make sure the farmlands stay protected, I've directed the Secretary of Agriculture to offer early re-enrollments and extensions on existing projects, existing contracts.

There's more work to do to make sure this economy continues to grow. One thing we got to do, be smart about how we spend your money in Washington, DC. And the other thing is to keep your taxes low. The worst thing that could happen to our economy right now is to let them run up your taxes on you. I'm running against a fellow who's promised over $2 trillion of new spending, and we still got September and October to go. [Laughter]

So they said, "How you going to pay for it?" He said, "Oh, we're just going to tax the rich." Now, you've heard that before, haven't you? Yes. When you hear them in Washington say "tax the rich," hang on to your wallet. [Laughter] But the good news is, we're not going to let him tax anybody because we're going to win Iowa and win the country in '04.

We have more to do to wage and win the war on terror. America's future depends on our willingness to lead in this world. If America shows weakness or uncertainty in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This isn't going to happen on my watch.

The world changed on a terrible September morning, and since that day, we have changed the world. Before September the 11th, Afghanistan served as the home base of Al Qaida, which trained and deployed thousands of killers and set up cells around the world, including the United States. Because we acted, Afghanistan is a rising democracy. Because we acted, over 10 million Afghan citizens have registered to vote in the October Presidential elections. Because we acted, many young girls go to school for the first time in Afghanistan. Because we acted, Afghanistan is an ally in the war on terror. Because we acted, America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America and our allies have sent a strong and easy-to-understand message, the leader of Libya has abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America. He was defying the world. He was firing weapons at American pilots who were enforcing the world's sanctions. He had used weapons of mass destruction. He harbored terrorists. He invaded his neighbors. He funded he subsidized the families of suicide bombers. Saddam Hussein and his henchmen killed thousands of his own citizens. He was a source of great instability in the world's most volatile region. I saw a threat.