Bush Speaks in N.J.

Some excerpts from Bush's speech yesterday in New Jersey. I don't think any interpretation is necessary.

We sat around the table and I listened to the concerns of both taxpayer employee, as well as small business owner. And the concerns are great, but the concerns can be solved.

People want to have a secure environment in which to risk capital. And, therefore, our biggest challenge, or one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that we continue to fight and win the war on terror.

On September the 11th, our country was shocked -- this part of the world was particularly shocked -- at the violence, the sudden violence done. We were shocked into recognizing that oceans can no longer protect us from harm, and therefore we have the serious charge to keep.

This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history -- revisionist historians is what I like to call them. Saddam Hussein was a threat to America and the free world in '91, in '98, in 2003. He continually ignored the demands of the free world, so the United States and friends and allies acted. And one thing is for certain -- (applause) -- and this is for certain: Saddam Hussein is no longer a threat to the United States and our friends and allies. (Applause.)

We've got a lot of brave troops still on the move, still looking for terrorists. We're cooperating with our friends and allies, we're sharing intelligence, we're running down their money trails. But one thing is certain for the American people to know, that this government will use whatever technologies and skill is necessary to secure America by hunting down those who would harm us, one person at a time. It is a charge we have been given and it is a charge we will keep.

I went to the United States Congress when I first got elected and said, this nation is -- looks like it's in recession. We need to let people have more of their own money in order to stall off the recession.

But we needed more action, so I went in front of the Congress this year and I said, let's come together, let's set aside all the party politics and partisan bickering and remember why we're in Washington in the first place -- we're there to do what's right for the American people. We must care about how to help somebody find work. That's what we ought to be focused on, not partisanship, but what's right for the American people.

Listen, if choice in health care is good enough for members of the United States Congress and their employees, it ought to be good enough for the seniors of the United States of America.

But our military muscle is not the true strength of America. I mean, there's no question about it, we've got the capacity to fight and win war and therefore make the world more peaceful.

By the way, there was no mention of WMD's in Iraq, which was about the only thing he did talk about in his speeches 6 months ago.