QUOTE OF THE DAY
Remarks by the President at Friends of George Allen Reception
Science Museum of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you for coming, thanks for the warm welcome, and thank you for supporting George Allen to be reelected United States Senator of the great state of Virginia. (Applause.)
I'm proud to be here with him. He's a man who has earned the confidence of the people of this state as a delegate, as the governor -- and a very successful governor -- as a United States Senator. (Applause.) He's the kind of fellow who says he's going to -- what he tells you on the campaign trail he does in office. He doesn't need a poll or a focus group to tell him what to think or what to say. George Allen is a man of strong principle, he is a leader, he is the right man to be the United States senator from the state of Virginia. (Applause.)
And he married well. (Laughter and applause.) And so did I. (Applause.) See, we got something in common -- we're both named George and we both married smart, beautiful women. (Applause.) Laura is very fond of the Allens. She understands that they are honorable, decent people; honest, good folks. We're proud to call them friends, and I know the people of Virginia are proud to call George Allen United States Senator. (Applause.)
There's a lot of rhetoric in these campaigns, a lot of needless noise in a campaign. A lot of time it's to obscure the fundamental issues facing the people of Virginia, and the people all across our nation. And the two biggest issues in this campaign, in any campaign across the country, is which party will take the steps necessary to protect the American people and win the war on terror, and which party is going to keep your taxes low to keep this economy growing. (Applause.)
George Allen and I have made our position very plain. Nobody has to guess where we stand. We got a clear record on taxes, and our philosophy is easy to understand. It says: We trust the people. See, we understand it's your money, not the government's money. We think the best people to spend the hard-earned dollars that you make is you. We understand the economy grows when you have more money in your pocket to save, spend or invest.
We also have the power of liberty. Freedom is a powerful force. You know, I like to tell people about an interesting experience I had. That's when I went to Elvis' place -- (laughter) -- with the then sitting Prime Minister of Japan. I went down there. I'd never been to Elvis' place. I thought it would be interesting to go there. (Laughter.) Prime Minister Koizumi wanted to go to Elvis' place because he loves Elvis. (Laughter.)
But I wanted to tell a story, and I'm going to tell it to you right quick, the reason I went. You might remember my dad, and I know some of your relatives fought the Japanese as a sworn enemy. (Applause.) There was a lot of kids in the early '40s that signed up to fight the Japanese. They had attacked us, and this country was going to defend ourselves.
I find it amazing, and I hope you do, too, that the son of Navy Pilot George H.W. Bush, the sitting President of the United States, is on Air Force One, flying down with the Prime Minister of the former enemy talking about the peace. We're talking about North Korea, how we can work together to convince the leader in North Korea to give up his nuclear weapons ambitions. We're talking about the fact that Japan had a thousand troops in Iraq because Prime Minister Koizumi and I know that freedom is how you defeat an ideology of hatred; that we understand that when you encourage liberty to flourish where it hadn't flourished, it provides hope. It helps defeat those who prey on hopelessness.
It's an amazing conversation. I've had several with him. But every time I have sat down with him, I find it interesting fact of history that my dad fought the Japanese, and today his son is working to keep the peace. Something happened. Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. It's -- the example is liberty has the capacity to change an enemy into an ally. Liberty has the capacity to turn a region of hate into a region of compassion. Some day an American President will be sitting down talking about the peace with duly-elected leaders from the Middle East, and a generation of Americans will be better off.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY 
President George W. Bush eats a cone of pralines and cream flavoured ice cream with local children at Manning's Ice Cream store in Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania, October 19, 2006. Bush stepped into the store after campaigning locally for U.S. Congressman Don Sherwood
Vietnamese gem-trader Dao Trong Cuong puts the finishing touches to a gem-made portrait of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, next to portraits of U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and other leaders, at his shop in Hanoi October 19, 2006. Cuong plans to present his gem-made portraits to leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) who will participate in the upcoming APEC summit to be hosted by Vietnam in mid-November.
