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The senator and I have different views on another threat to our economy: frivolous lawsuits. He's been a part of the Washington crowd that has obstructed legal reform again and again.
Meanwhile, all across America unfair lawsuits are hurting small businesses. Lawsuits are driving up health care costs. Lawsuits are threatening OB/GYNs all across our country.
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Lawsuits are driving good doctors out of practice.
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We need a president who will stand up to the trial lawyers in Washington, not put one on the ticket.
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The senator and I have very different views on health care.
He has a different vision. Under his health plan, 8 million Americans would lose the private insurance they get at work and most would end up on a government program. Under his plan, eight out of 10 people who get new insurance will get it from the federal government.
My opponent's proposal would be the largest expansion of government-run health care ever. And when government pays the bills, government makes the rules. His plan would put bureaucrats in charge of dictating coverage, which could ration care and limit your choice of doctor.
Senator Kerry's proposal would put us on the path to Clinton care.
I'll make sure doctors and patients are in charge of the decisions in America's health care.
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The senator and I have different views on government spending. Over the years he's voted 274 times to break the federal budget limits. And in this campaign, Senator Kerry's announced more than $2 trillion of new spending. And that's a lot of money, even for a senator from Massachusetts.
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During his 20 years as a senator, my opponent hasn't had many accomplishments. Of the hundreds of bills he submitted only five became law. One of them was ceremonial.
But to be fair, he's earned a special distinction in Congress. The nonpartisan National Journal analyzed his record and named John Kerry the most liberal member of the United States Senate. And when the competition includes Ted Kennedy, that's really saying something.
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I'm telling you, I know that bunch. Wasn't easy for my opponent to become the single most liberal member of the Senate. Might even say it was hard work.
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But he earned that title by voting for higher taxes, more regulation, more junk lawsuits and more government control over your life.
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My opponent wants to empower government. I want to use government to empower people.
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My opponent seems to think all of the wisdom is found in Washington, D.C. I trust the wisdom of the American people.
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Our differences are also clear on issues of national security. When I took office in 2001, threats to America had been gathering for years. Then on one terrible morning, the terrorists took more lives than America lost at Pearl Harbor.
Since that day we have waged a global campaign to protect the American people and bring our enemies to account. Our government has trained over a half a million first responders. We tripled spending on homeland security. Law enforcement intelligence have better tools to stop terrorists thanks to the Patriot Act -- which Senator Kerry voted for, but now wants to weaken.
The Taliban regime that sheltered Al Qaida is gone from power and the people of Afghanistan will vote in free elections this very week.
A black market network that provided weapons materials to North Korea and Libya and Iran is now out of business.
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Libya itself has given up its weapons of mass destruction programs.
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We convinced Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to join the fight against the terrorists. And more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's key members and associates have been brought to justice.
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After September the 11th, America had to assess every potential threat in a new light. Our nation awakened to an even greater danger: the prospect that terrorists who killed thousands with hijacked airplanes would kill many more with weapons of mass murder.
We had to take a hard look at everyplace where terrorists might get those weapons and one regime stood out: the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
We knew the dictator had a history of using weapons of mass destruction, a long record of aggression and hatred for America. He was listed by Republican and Democrat administrations as a state sponsor of terrorists.
There was a risk, a real risk, that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons or materials or information to terrorist networks.
In the world after September the 11th, that was a risk we could not afford to take.
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After 12 years of United Nations Security Council resolutions, we gave him a final chance to come clean and listen to the demands of the free world.
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We've had many victories in the war on terror and that war goes on. Our nation is safer but not yet safe.
To win this war, we must fight on every front. We'll stay on the offensive against terrorist networks, striking them before they come to America to hurt us. We'll confront governments that support terrorists and could arm them, because they're equally guilty of terrorist murder.
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And our long-term victory requires confronting the ideology of hate with freedom and hope.
BUSH: Our victory requires changing the conditions that produce radicalism and suicide bombers and finding new democratic allies in a troubled part of the region. America is always more secure when freedom is on the march and freedom is on the march in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere.
