March 15, 2004 Monday
John Kerry's remarks at the International Association of Fire Fighters Conference, Washington, D.C.
KERRY: God bless you all. Thank you for an extraordinary welcome. Thank you even more so for a remarkable campaign.
There is no group in America, no effort by brothers and sisters in the labor movement, no effort by citizens across this country that has been more rewarding, more giving, more honest, more personal than what each and every one of you have done, not just on behalf of my campaign and this effort, but on behalf of firefighters, of brothers and sisters in the labor movement all across this country, on behalf of the values of our nation with which we are fighting to keep faith.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I think America thanks you from every corner of this country, for what you do, who you are. I could not be more blessed than to have your support in this effort.
Thank you and God bless all of you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
I was watching the video just before I came out here, and I have to tell you, I sort of looked to see, who is that guy, who are they talking about.
(LAUGHTER)
That was a great video, Harold.
And everywhere I've gone in America, you know, after all our victory parties, one Tuesday to one Tuesday to the next, people kept calling our headquarters and saying, "Who's that good looking guy with the mustache standing behind Kerry all the time?"
(LAUGHTER)
I want to tell you that -- I don't know how many of you noticed, but the new TV ads that George Bush has up ask what America will be like after the first 100 days of a Kerry administration. I think the more important question is, What will America be like if George Bush had another four years? And single one of us understands the options and what that would mean to us here.
I want to say to all of you that we come here, obviously, at a special time.
KERRY: You were there with me through thick and thin. When the going was tough, on the coldest days in Iowa and New Hampshire, and there were plenty of them, through this long journey you have shown what we always knew was true: Firefighters can take the heat. And in this campaign, they did.
The firefighters, the gold and black that stood with us in firehouse after firehouse, in hall after hall, through more chilly dinners and lunches and afternoons than I ever imagined, all of you were there through the ups and down. And I pledge to you: I will stand with you for all the days to come. That is my pledge. I will stand with you.
(APPLAUSE)
Because our goal is not just victory in November, it's the day when every single firefighter in this country gets the equipment that they need, the support that they need and deserve, and the respect and the honor that they've earned.
And we're not going to rest for one moment until we get there. That pledge is at the center of this campaign.
And as we talk about where the Bush administration hasn't spent the money that they need to on security, I want to say a few words about another instance of this administration wasting our tax dollars.
Today, we find out that this administration has been using your taxpayer dollars, government money, to pay for campaign-style videos to sell their Medicare bill that seniors in this country know does not serve their interests or their needs.
Even the Republicans know that their Medicare bill does more for drug companies than for seniors. So they've hired actors to pose as journalists to sell a bad bill with your money, after already hiring actors to pose as soldiers in the president's campaign commercials.
You have to kind of wonder how many Oscar-winning performances will it take to convince America that George Bush can actually put America back on track.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, when President Bush fought to put through his Medicare plan just last November, he promised the American people that it would cost $395 billion. Yet, only two months after that, the administration stepped back and said, "Oh, we now realize that he plan would actually cost $135 billion more than the president had promised."
Now we learn the shocking truth: They knew it all along.
KERRY: And even worse, the government's top expert on Medicare costs, who wanted to testify, who wanted to come out and share the truth with the American people, who understood his obligation to try to live up to the values of this country, he was told to be quiet, he was threatened by the administration with the possible retribution that would come if he didn't.
And I say today: In the United States of America, in our democracy, there is no place for silencing the truth that belongs to the American people.
(APPLAUSE)
I'll tell you, every single one of you know what would happen in your communities if the city manager or the mayor or whoever runs your particular community were to suddenly face the voters and say, "Oh, gee whiz, two months ago we thought it was this, but now the budget's 33 percent different, and we're going to cut by 33 percent." If you were CEO of a company with that kind of overrun, you'd be fired.
I believe the American people deserve real answers on why this administration is keeping public officials quiet and keeping the facts from the American people.
The American citizen, the American voter, the American taxpayer deserves better than this. And when I'm president, they'll get better than this.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, courage is a word that gets thrown around a lot. But it doesn't mean anything unless there is a real danger that somebody is facing. None of you here needs to be reminded of this. This past week, all of us received the heartbreaking reminders of this reality. And I'm sorry that my friend David Lang (ph), who did such a great job up in New Hampshire, is not able to be with us because of what happened there.
We join together in mourning the loss of Charles Brace and Richard Stefanakis and pray for the speedy recovery of 29 other firefighters who were injured at the blaze at the Ebenezer church. And today all of us know that that ground, hallowed as it was, is even more hallowed because of their sacrifice. What they did, what they represented will never be forgotten.
KERRY: We also mourn the loss of Mike Miller of New Hampshire, who died in an underwater training exercise, which goes to prove that even when there isn't a fire there is in everyday life, even as there is in the military, in the training and in the preparations, dangers that also bring loss to family and to community.
I visited his firehouse in Laconia. We had a chili feed there. We had a town meeting there. And my heart goes out to his family and to his comrades, who I know are mourning deeply that loss.
And those are losses that we all know don't just go away suddenly. They stay with you.
We meet today while our nation is at war. And the war on terror is being fought in distant parts of the world -- and in the very neighborhoods that we call home.
One year ago, I came here to say that that most basic responsibility of government is to provide for the common defense of our nation, but that thus far the Bush administration had, as I said then, provided too little support and too little leadership, and provided too little vision for the common defense of our homeland.
One year later, we gather again, and the same is true. Whether it has been providing funding and equipment for firefighters, ensuring that cargo in our ports is adequately screened, guarding our chemical and our nuclear facilities, or working with local communities all across the country to give them the resources that they need, this administration has given our homeland security efforts short shrift. And you personally deserve better than that after the promises that have been made.
Now, I don't fault George Bush for doing too much in the war on terror as some do -- I believe that he's done too little and done some things that he didn't have to.
When the focus of the war on terror was appropriately in Afghanistan and on breaking Al Qaida, President Bush shifted his focus to Iraq and to Saddam Hussein. He pushed away our allies at a time when we needed them the most. He hasn't pursued a strategy to win the hearts and minds of people around the world and win the war of ideas against the radical ideology of Osama bin Laden.
KERRY: Time and again, George Bush has failed to give those fighting the war on terror, whether they're overseas or here, the weapons, equipment and support that they need.
In dangerous parts of Iraq, our helicopters are flying missions without the best available anti-missile systems, unarmored Humvees are falling victim to roadside bombs and small arms fire, and the Bush administration waited through month after month of ambushes to act.
Now, I heard today someone saying, "Well, John Kerry voted against the $87 billion. How can he say this?" Well, I voted for the $87 billion if they had been willing to simply pay for it now by asking the wealthiest people in America to share some of the burden.
And what John Biden and I asked for was to take, instead of giving the wealthiest people in America $690 billion of tax cuts over the next 10 years, we said, "Couldn't they share with those middle- class families whose sons and daughters are in the Guard and Reserve, who are suffering lower pay because they're in the military serving their country? And those families are scrounging to make end meets. Shouldn't we ask those wealthiest Americans, rather than getting $690 billion over the next 10 years, would they be satisfied with $600 billion over the next 10 years?" And they said no.
Ladies and gentlemen, the real definition of patriotism is not just taking care of those who wear the uniform. It's also shared sacrifice in America by every income level to help carry the burden of this country. And when I'm president, we're going to make this place fair again.
(APPLAUSE)
And I might add, that vote for the $87 billion, which was a vote to change our policy and get other nations involved and get other people on the ground and take the target off of American troops by sharing the responsibility, it was also a vote that took place long after they already committed the troops, long after they should have had the equipment that they needed.
And tens of thousands of our troops arrived in Iraq to find that with danger around every corner, there wasn't enough body armor to protect them. Many of their families on the home front -- mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and children -- I met some of them in Ohio, Iowa -- had to raise money in order to buy that body armor for their loved ones.
Families ought to be sending pictures and care packages to Iraq, and the Department of Defense should be sending the body armor. That's the way it ought to work in this country.
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: So today I call on the president to support a bill, a law now in Congress, which we could pass just like that, to reimburse each and every family who had to buy the body armor that this administration failed to provide. That would be fair and just.
In addition, many of us today here, many of you out there, you've been on the front lines of conflicts far away. But all of us know that today firefighters and other first defenders and first responders in America are the people who are on the front lines of this new war. And you also deserve the tools that you need.
After September 11th, President Bush went to New York, stood at ground zero, stood with our firefighters. I wish the president would go back now and ask whether he has stood with you since that day.
You should never have to worry about getting the health benefits and collective bargaining rights that you've earned. And President Bush should never forget that the 343 heroes that we lost on 9/11 were not only parents and children, brothers and husbands, fiances and best friends. They were also proud members of locals 94 and 854. They never forgot it, and neither will we.
(APPLAUSE)
Two and a half years after 9/11, fire departments across our country only have enough radios for half the firefighters, and almost two-thirds of our firehouses are short staffed, with more firefighters and police officers actually being laid off.
Cargo in our airports and in our seaports still isn't screened to the level that's been recommended by a number of distinguished expert panels so they reach the level of legitimate deterrence.
KERRY: Our terrorist watch lists haven't been simplified, and the right information still isn't available to the right people on the front lines of preventing the next attack.
First defenders still can't radio each other in emergency situations similar to what we saw happen between police and firefighters in New York City. Air marshals are actually being laid off.
And yet this administration has put a tax giveaway for the very wealthiest of our nation over making sure that we do all that we can to win the war on terror here at home. They have no problem giving Halliburton a fat no-bid contract, while only soldiers and firefighters and police officers are asked to give their sacrifice.
I think this administration has it just plain backwards. President Bush says we can't afford to fund homeland security. I say we can't afford not to. And certainly not because we give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
When it comes to protecting America from terrorism, this administration is big on bluster and is short on action.
But as we saw again last week in Spain, real action is what we need.
The Bush administration is tinkering while the clock on homeland security is ticking, and we really don't have a moment or time to waste.
That means truly dedicating ourselves to homeland security, not using it as a political prop.
For months, this administration -- remember this -- for months, despite our suggestions otherwise, this administration stubbornly refused to allow the creation of a department of homeland security. And then, after wasting all those months, they suddenly shifted course when the pressure mounted.
KERRY: Since then, they've used the Department of Homeland Security to track down state legislators in Texas. And we learned from Time magazine that the department's employees have been asked to provide President Bush with a homeland security photo opportunity every month.
Ladies and gentlemen, America doesn't need leaders who play politics with 9/11 or see the war on terror as just another campaign issue. Our nation's safety is too important.
And if I am president, we will work toward victory in the war on terror, knowing that those on the front lines of this battle are heroes, not political props; that the needs of our first defenders will never be left for last.
(APPLAUSE)
America deserves to know specifically what I mean, so let me be precise. Here is what we will do.
We will pass the Safer Firefighters Act, fund the FIRE Act, and create the Father Mychal Judge Fund to hire 100,000 new firefighters across America and staff our houses as we need it.
(APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Kerry! Kerry! Kerry!
KERRY: We will direct assistance to the front lines so that the local firefighters and other first defenders don't have to settle for the leftovers that sort of filter down through layer upon layer of bureaucracy.
And when we passed the COPS program 10 years ago, and I helped lead that fight in the United States Senate, I led the fight on the floor to get the 100,000 police officers in America, and people kept saying, "Oh, we can't do that, we won't be able to afford that," and I stood on the floor and we fought. We got Robert Byrd and others together, and we created a trust fund, and we did it.
And guess what? It took just 62 days for the first grants to local communities to get officers on the beat.
Today, towns and cities all over America are still waiting for the homeland security funds for purchasing equipment, for providing training that they've been promised for years.
And while we're at it, we will restore the COPS funds that President Bush has eliminated to make our communities safer.
KERRY: He ought to be putting more cops on the beat as crime is going up, not laying them off, and I will reverse that trend in this country.
(APPLAUSE)
Most importantly, something I've worked on for 20 years, which is critical to our nation, and to the world: We will reduce the spread of nuclear and biological and chemical weapons and better guard our ports. We'll provide frontline defenders with the gear and the communications equipment and the intelligence that they need. And we'll make sure that our public health system is ready for whatever comes its way.
We will enlist the American people and make sure that they are part of our efforts to make the land that we share safer, and our democracy and our way of life protected.
I'm not saying that all of this will be easy, but none of you has signed up for an easy life. And none of you signed up to be on the front lines of a new war. But day after day firefighters have proven that they know how to get the job done.
And I think you deserve a president who joins you in that effort, not just when the cameras are clicking, not when the political season warms up, not when the bagpipes are wailing and the flags are at half staff, but every single day.
You deserve a president who goes to the Oval Office every morning knowing that his job is to help you do yours. And that's the kind of president that I will be.
(APPLAUSE)
You have already done so much, but we have just begun to fight. Together, we're going to take our message of change, of a strong America, to every corner of this country, to all the places and to all the people that want leadership that lives by and honors mainstream American values. Truth. Common sense. Community. Building for the future. Leadership that makes our people safe and secure. That's not too much to ask for.
But right here, right now, together, we are making this pledge: This is what we will deliver to our country. Together, firefighters across America, average citizens across America, all those people who understand how much harder life is getting in America as people work two jobs, three jobs, just to make ends meet, as people watch the wealthiest people in America get more, walk away with benefits, take advantage of tax codes that allow them to hide money abroad, while the average person is stuck picking up the bill here at home, we are going to define together the real patriotism, the real values that have always made America strong.
And I am so proud that the International Association of Firefighters will be, that the gold and black will be part of this campaign. You will become legend and you will help make the change that this country needs come about.
Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)