Remarks at a dinner for gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon in Phoenix, Arizona

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 7, 2002

There's a lot of things Congress can do to help, and I look forward to working with them to create the jobs. And I know the two Senators here and the Members of Congress are anxious to help to expand our economy. But one thing Congress must not do is overspend. See, one thing Congress has got to do is hold the line on spending if we want our economy to grow. Interest rates are low. Inflation is low. Productivity is some of the best in the world. The foundation for growth is there.

But to make sure people can find work, it's important for Congress not to overspend. And there's a danger. See, every program in Washington sounds good. Everybody's idea is a brilliant idea. The problem is, is those brilliant ideas cost in the billions. Plus, the Senate doesn't have a budget. Senator McCain wants it to have a budget. Senator Kyl wants it to have a budget. It doesn't have a budget. The other side hasn't been able to get a budget. And when you don't have a budget, guess what the danger is--that there's no fiscal responsibility with your money. There's no fiscal restraint. For the sake of job creation, the Congress must fund our priorities and hold the line on additional spending.

And we'll work together, and we'll work hard together to make sure this country is a stronger country, to make sure people can find work. We've also got to make sure it's a safer country. I think our biggest job is to protect the homeland, and the reason we need to do so, there is still an enemy out there which hates America. They hate us because of what we love. We love freedom. We love the fact that people can worship an almighty God any way they see fit here in America. We love the fact that people can have honest discourse and political debate. We love a free press. We love everything about freedom, and we refuse to relinquish that love. And so long as we love freedom, there are people that want to hurt us. See, that's the problem we face.

And the other difference is, we value life in America, Every life matters. Everybody counts. Everybody is precious--not to the enemy. They have hijacked a great religion, and murdered--murdered innocent people and could care less. And that's who we're fighting, and they're out there. So we've got to do everything we can to protect the homeland.

You've got to know, there's a lot of good people working hard to protect you: Conversations taking place that never took place before in Washington; a lot of information sharing; a lot of folks running down every hint, every lead, every idea that somebody might be thinking about doing something to America. We're moving on it, within the confines of the United States Constitution, I might add. We're pursuing leads. We're disrupting. We're making sure, as best as we possibly can, that the enemy doesn't hit us again.

And that's why I went to the United States Congress and asked the Congress to join me in the creation of a Homeland Security Department. I did so because there's over 100 agencies in Washington, DC, that have something to do with securing the homeland. They're everywhere, and it seems like to me that if the number one priority of the Government is to defend the homeland, they ought to be under one agency, so we can change the culture of these agencies, so we can insist on priority.