PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service 08/15/92 11:34 AM 1 of 30 Bush's Speech to Knights of Columbus Following is the text of President Bush's Aug 5 speech to the Knights of Columbus in New York. PRESIDENT BUSH: "Thank you very, very much for that warm welcome. Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated and thank you all. May I salute Virgil Dekant (phonetic), my friend of longstanding, and thank him for that most generous welcome here. Your Eminence, Cardinal O'Connor, it is a great pleasure and honor, sir, to see you again. May I salute Cardinal Baum, Cardinal Ganyon (phonetic), Bishop Daly (phonetic), another old friend, Ambassador Tom Milaty (phonetic) who's doing a superb job for our country representing us at the Vatican, and clergy, and ladies and gentlemen. And may I salute a man who used to be, whose house made him a neighbor, Archbishop Cachevallan (phonetic) from Washington, the nuncio there, a good man, a good friend. Nice to see you. I'm glad you're here, sir. (Applause) And I have only one regret, Virgil. My timing was such that I did not hear the fitting and warm and wonderful ovation that you gave Mother Teresa yesterday. I understand it was really fantastic. (Applause) You know, a report came across my desk the other day and it stated that most people in the Western world felt exceedingly gloomy about the future. It said that institutions were decaying. Well-meaning people were growing cynical. These are exact quotes. And my first thought was that's what happens when people spend too much time watching the evening news. (Laughter; applause) I'm going to pay for that one tonight on that first 20 seconds. Just kidding, Dan! (Laughter) You know, but what I was reading was not a report about 1992, it was a history of public attitudes in Europe in 1492. Public moods are prone to change, of course, and we know that the gloom of 1492 was not to last for long. It was dispelled by the achievement of a man of humble birth, a man of vision, of courage, a man named Christopher Columbus. Now I know, I know that every speaker comes before you and say they identify with Columbus, but I really mean it. Think about it. The guy was faced with questions at home about whether his global efforts were worth a darn. (Laughter) Some critics wanted him to cut his voyage short. (Laughter) And he even faced the threat of mutiny. And yet Columbus persevered and won. Not a bad analogy in my view, so--I know this isn't political. (Applause and cheers) Now I admit, Columbus also had a lot, had to worry all about, at that time, about a lack of wind. (Laughter) I don't have that problem with Congress. And this year, as in Columbus's time, we hear a lot of talk about change. And sure, change in natural. But maybe a better word for the US is renewal, because the changes we need must be based on principles that never change. I think my parents were like yours. They brought me up to understand that our fundamental moral standards were established by almighty God. They taught me that if you have something for yourself, you should give half to a friend. And they taught me to take the blame when things go wrong and share the credit when things go right. These ideas were supported by society. Only recently, His Eminence and I were talking about--not at this detail, but talking about this subject just a few minutes ago. Only recently in America have we seen the rise of legal theories and practices that reject our Judeo-Christian tradition. Cardinal O'Connor eloquently describes this as an invasion of values. It's a deeply disturbing trend and it is diametrically opposed to my idea of the kind of change that's good for our great country. Last month, just 12 blocks from here, there was another convention. Now I didn't-- (Laughter) I was very lucky, I did not--and this is the honest truth--I didn't hear any of the speeches. I was out fishing in Wyoming with Jim Baker. But I understand one of the speakers known for florid language called me the "captain of the ship of state." I'm not sure he meant it as a compliment, but believe me, as a Navy man at a Knights of Columbus convention, the term suits me just fine and I look, I look-- (Applause) I look at this office that you've entrusted with me as a lot of things, as more than managing the economy, more even than being commander in chief. I stake my claim to a simple belief. The president should try to set a moral tone for this nation. And all around us we see evidence that America's moral compass has gone awry. We seem to be moving away from the enduring idea of taking responsibility for our actions. Our city newspapers are filled with stories of drive-by shootings. The taking of human life made more horrible by the awful anonymity through which it is accomplished, and recently I read a story of a kid from a good neighborhood charged in a gun store robbery. He told the police who caught him, it's not like I'm a criminal. I'm on the dean's list. What is happening to America? As a nation we face enormous challenges in education, crime, drugs, and yet each of them come back to the challenge of pointing our moral compass in the right direction. And so I believe that a central issue of this election year should be who do you trust to renew America's moral purpose? Who do you trust to fight for the ideas that will help rebuild our families and restore our fundamental values? I believe--and I've tried hard on this--I believe I've earned your trust, and I am committed to fighting for ideas that help repair this great nation's moral fiber. (Applause) Welfare is one example. We all know that our welfare system has literally destroyed the concept of personal responsibility, tearing families apart with no incentives for people to work and save and improve. I want something different. I have fought for a new welfare system that says yes to human potential, and today, as we speak, we are granting waivers to states so they can change welfare rules, encourage families not to fall apart, not to live apart, but to stick together. States are saying to recipients either you get training or you don't get a check. Some states are even going so far as to make a very tough call, saying to parents, if you can't afford another child don't expect the taxpayer to pick up the added costs. Now these are tough choices. (Applause) These are very tough choices, but they're all intended by the states to promote responsibility. And the other side says they agree with the ideas, but if you take a close look some argue that ultimately the only solution to welfare is a guaranteed government job for every recipient. I ask is this any way to promote responsibility? If we guarantee everyone a government job how can we reward initiative? Our reforms may sound tough, but not as tough as a lifetime of despondency and despair, a lifetime that strips every recipient of his or her dignity. Let's give people hope. Let's give them opportunity. Let's take a look at education. We know that to renew America we literally must renew our schools, and I happen to believe that competition can be the greatest force for change in our schools in an entire century. The other side says they agree almost and the almost is what troubles me. Remember how old Henry Ford used to tell his, tell his customers: They could have any model T that they wanted so long as it was black. (Laughter) Well, the other side says their ideal is that parents could choose any school for their kids so long as it's run by the government. And if you'll excuse one blatantly political comment, and which you'll have to concede has so far been a nonpartisan almost speech, my opponent won the Teacher's Union endorsement by saying he's unalterably opposed--those are his words-- unalterably opposed to letting Catholic parents and other private school parents have a fair share of education benefits, and I believe that it's time to have the courage to fight for a different approach. And right now if you want an alternative to public schools you have to pay twice, first for tuition, and again through taxes. And a couple of weeks ago I was in Philadelphia, hosted by Cardinal Bevalaca (phonetic) and a group of parents told me we want our kids to go to Catholic school, but we just can't afford it. And so my solution is something called the GI Bill For Kids. Like the original GI Bill, my new approach offers scholarships or vouchers for students to take to any qualified school, not only public schools, but bible schools, yeshivas, Catholic parish schools. And when it comes to schools, I say let the parents choose, public, private, or religious. (Applause and cheers) What about promoting religion as a force for good in our society? I'm reminded of the story of a small boy who once began a prayer this way: God bless mother and daddy, my brother, my sister, and God, he said, do take care of yourself; if anything happens to you, we're all sunk. (Laughter) PRESIDENT BUSH (continues): Maybe there's some doubts, but America is still the most religious nation on Earth, and I want to strengthen our faith further. And again, there are wide differences. Some think it's okay to hand out condoms in schools, but oppose amending our Constitution to allow our kids to put their hands together to say a prayer. I disagree. I call again on the Congress to pass a constitutional amendment restoring voluntary prayer to our classrooms. (Applause) The Senate opens its meeting with prayer. The House of Representatives opens it meeting with a prayer. Nobody doubts that they both need it-- (Laughter) --but let's allow the faith of our fathers back into those schools. And there's a national tragedy, more than a half million abortions in this country every year. And we know there's got to be a better way. Human alternatives, like adoptions and abstinence. 7 times I have ignored the polls and acted on what I believe is fundamental principle and vetoed, as Virgil very generously pointed out, abortion legislation. And I promise you again today, no matter the political price--they tell me in this year that it's enormous--I am going to do what I think is right. I am going to stand on my conscience and let my conscience be my guide when it comes to matters of life. (Lengthy applause) Thank you very much. And here's something else that bothers me. In some places, a 13-year-old girl cannot get her ears pierced without parental permission or without bringing her mother and father along. But some believe that the same girl should be able to get an abortion without parental consent. And I think most Americans believe this idea is crazy, and I'm going to fight to see that that doesn't happen. (Applause) So these issues are all--they all come up in an election year. They'll be part of campaigns in the fall all across the country. And today I make the same appeal to you that I'll make to every voter. Look beneath the rhetoric, take a look at the ideas to determine who has the courage to stand up for the changes that are morally right for America. And I'm going to take my case to the American people. And if you're looking to restore America's fiber, why buy synthetic when you can get real cotton? (Applause) So I believe--but I do believe America needs a leader willing to do what's right, not merely what is politically popular at the moment. And nowhere is it more clear in the decisions the president must make every day to build real peace, to establish freedom and democracy, not the mere, simple absence of war. St. Ignatius said, Work as though all depended upon yourself and pray as though all depended on God. PRESIDENT BUSH (continuing): The practice of that motto, conquer communism, ceaseless prayer, and tireless work halted the cold war, and spared us from the catastrophe of a 3d World War. Believers behind the Iron Curtain defied persecution. Believers in the West defied indifference. Over 4 decades our servicemen trained, our taxpayer paid $4 trillion to keep our defenses strong, and as a consequence the Iron Curtain is no more and our kids no longer go to bed at night worrying about that dreadful specter of nuclear war. But while the Soviet bear is no more, there are still plenty of wolves in the woods, and when we faced our first big challenge after the cold war, we didn't shrink, we stood up to Saddam's aggression and expelled him from Kuwait, and we protected the people of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and now we brought age-old adversaries to the peace table for the first time. His Holiness, Pope John Paul, has spent many days and nights at work and in prayer for peace in the Middle East, and as long as I am president, I assure you I will do everything I can to bring about that peace that so many prayer for. (Applause) And so in conclusion let me say this. This is the year of change, change, change. The election will all be about change. Because change really is the natural condition of our land. This isn't something new. And I believe that now we've changed the world, we are poised and ready to change America to make America even better. We must keep something important in mind now that our moral values are victorious around the globe. We cannot and we will not abandon them at home. We didn't stand together to see courageous moral values rise in Russia only to be ignored here at home. We did not sacrifice so that personal responsibility could triumph in totalitarian regimes, only to become passe here in this great nation. And it's time to get back to some basic American values. And so I am going to defend the principles for which you stand so firm. We will keep our sights set on what is good in America, and we will keep our focus on the potential in our families, most of all in our young people, in our kids, and we'll keep a reliable compass, and we'll put our ship of state in finest sailing trim, and as this nation has so many times before, we will sail on to shining new horizons. Thank you and may God bless you and our beloved country, the US of America. Thank you very much." (End of Speech) Copyright 1992 Prodigy Services Company. All Rights Reserved.