Remarks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 13, 2004

September 3, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. What a spectacular day. Thank you all for being here. It's great to be in the land of kind people and tall corn. Laura and I are proud to be here. We started early this morning in Pennsylvania, then went to Wisconsin, We're ending our day in this beautiful and important State. You might remember it's the State that started me on the way to the nomination 4 years ago.

We have a--we've got a real soft spot in our heart for Iowa. It's going to be even softer--with your help, we're going to carry Iowa this November. I'm here to ask for the vote. I believe you got to get out and tell the people what you believe and ask for their help, and I'm here to ask for it.

And I'm thrilled to be traveling with Laura. Today I'm going to give you some reasons why I think you ought to put me back in there, but perhaps the most important one of all is so that Laura is First Lady for 4 more years.

I'm real proud of my runningmate. Dick Cheney is a--he's a fine guy. You know, it's pretty clear he wasn't the prettiest face on the ticket. [Laughter] It's not why I picked him. I picked him because of his experience, his steady judgment, and because he can get the job done.

I'm proud to be standing up here with Chuck Grassley. He's a great United States Senator. Every, time I talk to him he says, "Remember Iowa." You're lucky to have him in the Senate, and I hope you keep him there.

I'm proud also to be here with your Congressman, Jim Leach. He's a fine, honorable, decent citizen of the State of Iowa, and I'm proud to call him friend.

I appreciate all the statehouse people who are here, the local officials who are here. I want to thank Majority Leader Chuck Gipp for being here.

I want to thank my friend Dave Roederer, who is the statewide chairman for this campaign here. I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here, Those are the people who are going to put up the signs, make the phone calls, and register your friends and neighbors to vote.

We have a duty, to vote in this country, and as you get out to register friends, make sure you don't overlook discerning Democrats. You might remember Zell Miller. There's a lot of folks like Zell who understand, with 4 more years this country will be safer, stronger, and better for every American.

We are approaching an historic national election, and the time for choosing is almost here. This election will come down to the records we have built, the convictions that we hold, and the visions that guide us, I look forward to campaigning in Iowa a lot. I look forward to coming--I'll tell you where I stand. I'll tell you what I believe, and I'll tell you where I'll lead this country for the next 4 years.

I believe that every child can learn, and I know that every school must teach. Because we're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, because we've raised the bar, because we believe we ought to measure so we can solve problems early, before it's too late, we're closing an achievement gap in America, and nothing will hold us back.

I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors with good health care. And I appreciate working with Chairman Chuck Grassley on strengthening Medicare. It made no sense to have a Medicare system where the Government would pay thousands of dollars for heart surgery but not one dime for the medicine to prevent the heart surgery from happening in the first place. Beginning in 2006, seniors will have prescription drug coverage, Rural hospitals in Iowa will now be taken care of. We're not turning back.

I believe strongly in the innovative spirit of America's workers, small-business owners, farmers, and ranchers. And so we unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. We have been through a lot together in this economy. We've been through a recession, corporate scandals, and an attack on our country which cost us dearly. But because we acted, this economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.

This morning, we received the jobs report for August. It shows that our economy has added 144,000 new jobs. Plus revisions upwards of about 60,000 for the previous 2 months. We've added 22,000 manufacturing jobs last month. We've added over 1.7 million jobs since August of '03. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. That's lower than the average of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in your State is 4.4 percent. This economy is strong. The titan economy is strong, and we intend to keep it that way.

I believe a President must confront problems and not pass them on to future Presidents and future generations. I believe the most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

I'm running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a safer world and a more hopeful America. I'm running on a compassionate conservative philosophy that Government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this Nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership, and that is why, with your help, we're going to win in November.