Remarks at the Rochester Community and Technical College in Rochester, Minnesota

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 21, 2002

October 18, 2002

Thank you all for coming. Yes, kind of sounds like the Metrodome in here. I appreciate so many good folks coming to say hello. You know, I'm aware of Rochester. After all, I still listen to my mother. [Laughter] She's a proud member of the board of Mayo Clinic.

I thank you for coming today. I'm here to talk about some of the challenges we meet as a nation. I want you to know that I'm incredibly optimistic about this Nation's future. And I'm here to support a man for the United States Senate who shares my optimism about America. There's no doubt in my mind that what is best for Minnesota and what is best for America is that Norm Coleman become the next United States Senator. I'm here to support the ticket, and there's no question in my mind that you need to have Tim Pawlenty as the next Governor for Minnesota.

I want to thank you all for your concern about our country. I want to thank you for your participation in the process. Thank you for taking your time to look the candidates over. Thank you for understanding that being a part of America is the obligation to participate in our process. I want to thank you for what you have done for America. I want to thank you for what you're going to do. And that is, man the phones; go to your coffee shops; go to your houses of worship; remind the people of our community, whether they be Republicans or Democrats or couldn't care less--[laughter]--that when you find a good one, you ought to support him. And you found some good ones in these candidates here in Minnesota.

I'm also glad to be in the breadbasket of America. We eat because of you. [Laughter] I love the values of this part of the world--faith and family, love of country--I love the values of this part of the world. Hard-working, good, honest, decent people, people I'm proud to call friend, people neighbors are proud to call friend--no, you're the strength of our great country. And nothing we can't overcome, because we're the finest country on the face of the Earth.

I want to thank the good folks here at Rochester Community and Technical College for your hospitality. I particularly want to thank--it's kind of hard to welcome a President, I know, but you've done a heck of a good job, plus you've got a Texan running the deal. [Laughter] I want to thank Don Supalla, who's the president, for his hospitality.

I want to thank the Members of Congress who are with us: Gil Gutknecht, who's a friend of mine. Thank you for coming, Gil. I appreciate you coming. I want to thank Congressman Mark Kennedy for being here as well, Mark's a fine one. You lowered your standards; you let somebody from Missouri travel with me--[laughter]--but he's a fine Congressman named Roy Blunt. I appreciate Congressman Blunt being here with us today.

I want to thank the people who are running for office. I want to thank Carol Molnau, who's running for the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Minnesota. I want to thank John Kline, who will make a fine United States Congressman. Clyde Billington is running for the Congress; we need to help Clyde. And Dan Stevens is running for Congress. I want to thank these candidates for running.

You drew the short straw today. You didn't get my mother, and you didn't get my wife. [Laughter] But Laura sends her best. She's doing great. She's doing really good. She's an amazing lady. You know, when I married her--we were both raised in Midland, Texas, which is really not a pretty place to look at, but it's full of fine people. [Laughter] She was a public school librarian. By the way, her heart is still with our children. She desires for every child to learn how to read in America. But anyway, when I married her, or asked her to many me, at least, the truth of the matter was, she didn't like politics--[laughter]--and didn't particularly care for politicians, either. [Laughter] Thank goodness she said yes. She's now a fabulous First Lady for our country.

I know something about what it takes to be a Governor, and you've got a good man running for Governor here in Minnesota. He's a person who can get results. He's proven that already in the statehouse. He has worked to make sure that government stays within a budget, and that's not easy. Generally, when governments meet, everybody has got a great idea. They all cost billions of dollars. [Laughter] That's why you've got to have somebody who understands the money we spend in government is not the government's money. Tim understands that.

He also understands the most important thing a State can do is to make sure you get it right when it comes to the schools. The most important issue for any Governor in any State is to make sure every single child in your State receives a quality education. What you've got to have in the statehouse is somebody like Tim who is willing to insist upon high standards and high expectations, somebody who is willing to challenge what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. You see, if you get you--you've got to have a Governor who understands you must raise the bar and expect the best, who believes in his heart of hearts that every child can learn. You've got to believe that.