Mr. Vice President and Lynne, thank you for joining us. Vice President Cheney has been a fabulous Vice President of the United States.

These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people.

And so I'm looking forward to working with them [Congress] to come up with a good bill. But they need to fund these troops, and they don't need to be putting artificial timetable for withdrawal on the money that we're asking to make sure the men and women who courageously serve the United States of America have what it takes to do the job they've been asked to do. If the Congress can't get the job done — in other words, those jet fumes will start to be moving out pretty soon here, later on this week — if they can't get the job done, then I've got a suggestion for them. Just pass a one-year continuing resolution. That's all they got to do.

I can remember the first home I bought in Midland, Texas. I remember going down to the savings and loan and sitting down with the savings and loan officer and negotiating with the savings and loan officer. Well, this day and age you're going to use — mortgages have been bundled, so the savings and loan doesn't own the mortgage anymore, or the bank doesn't loan the mortgage anymore, the local lending institute doesn't loan the mortgage anymore. It's owned by some international group, perhaps, or it's been bundled into an asset. And so there's hardly anybody to negotiate with. And so some lenders aren't sure where to turn. They have credit-worthiness, they may get pinched as their interest rates reset.

I'm going to tell you something. We have fabulous health care in America, just so you know. I think it's very important — before people start griping about the health care system here — and of course there's always grounds for complaint — just to compare it with other systems around the world. And one of the reasons our system is expensive is because some of the new technologies that are coming online, they happen to be saving lives.

I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit with President Sarkozy. And my message was that we believe strongly in elections, and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform. You can't be the President and the head of the military at the same time.

REPORTER: So what about Iraq? Can France, for instance, help to get out of the Iraqi quagmire? And President Bush, where do you stand on Iraq and your domestic debate on Iraq? Do you have a timetable for withdrawing troops?
DUBYA: I don't — you know, quagmire is an interesting word. If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you'd be saying, God, I love freedom — because that's what's happened.

It's now been 64 days since I have requested that Congress pass emergency funding for these troops. We don't have all of them there. About half more are going to head in. We're making some progress. And 64 days ago, I said to the United States Congress, these troops need funding. And instead of proving that vital funding, the Democrat leadership in Congress has spent the past 64 days pushing legislation that would undercut our troops.

I appreciate the Mayor. Mayor, are you here somewhere? Oh, Mayor, good to see you. Thank you for serving. Appreciate it — just fill the potholes, that's all I can tell you. And I'm sure you are.

Three months ago, we've added — over the last three months, we added a million jobs.

Our economy expanded — so there's a big debate. There's always somebody — do tax cuts work? They work. I understand the politics of cutting taxes. Some like it, some don't. I just asked the American people to look at the facts. Since we cut taxes a second time in 2003, we've added 7.4 million new jobs. Tax cuts equaled new jobs.

Baby boomers like me are getting ready to retire. Like my retirement date and my Social Security date happen to be the same, 2008. It's convenient. Sixty-two years old in 2008.

Do you realize we've got a crisis when it comes to OB/GYNs in America? These good docs who have got the great compassionate job of taking care of young'uns, they're getting run out of business because of frivolous and junk lawsuits. It makes no sense.

See, one of the problems we've had that shows — what we found out in New Orleans there's not — there wasn't a lot of — we take — some things we take for granted like the generations passing assets from one generation to the next just didn't happen in the African American community, and should. We ought to encourage — we take that for granted, don't we? Some of us do. You know, you pass the house on. A lot of these people didn't own their own homes. A lot of them didn't have checking accounts. And yet one of the things we ought to encourage is systems — is reforms that enable somebody to own something so they can pass it on to their child. It's part of creating stability and healthy families and strength. And so I want to be known as an ownership guy.

One of the most — I think one of the most important and interesting domestic initiatives, which I agree has created an interesting philosophical debate, is to allow faith-based programs and community-based programs to access federal money in order to achieve the results we all want. I mean, for example, if you're trying to encourage people to quit drinking, doesn't it make sense to give people somebody an alternative — he can maybe go to a government counselor? Or how about somebody who calls upon a higher being to help you quit drinking? All I care about is the results.

Seems like to me we ought to encourage marriage in this country, and the tax code ought to encourage that. ...It seems like to me that you want a tax system that encourages a family member to be able to pass their assets on to whomever they choose without the government making it impossible to do so. ...The best way, it seems like to me, to solve the deficit is to keep pro-growth tax policies in place and do something on the spending side. ...Do you realize we've got about 250 years of coal here in America? It seems like to me a wise investment is to figure out how to use that coal in a way that heats your homes and fuels your businesses, and at the same time, protects the environment. ...It seems like to me the more transparency in pricing, the more likely it is consumers will have an input into the cost of health care.

And that's really the role of government, when you think about it. I like to tell people the role of government is not to try to create wealth. That's not the role of government. Oh, sure, the role of government is to help the poor and help the elderly with medicine — but it's not to try to create overall wealth. The role of government is to create an environment in which people are willing to risk capital, to take risk. ...The role of government in my judgment is to take care of the poor, through Medicaid and community health centers. The role of the government in my judgment is to take of the elderly through a Medicare program which is, which is modern, and by the way, provides choices for our seniors. But also I think the role of government is to encourage a direct relationship between the consumer/the patient, and the provider/the doctor, without a lot of, lotta, lot, without a lotta go-betweens. ...You're very smart to — part of the role of government is to create an environment in which people are willing to risk capital.

I appreciate Lieutenant General Michel Maisonneuve. She's in the Canadian Air Force. She's NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Chief of Staff.

Would the United States and other free nations be more safe or less safe with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people and its resources?

It turns out that my grandfather, Prescott S. Bush, was the first President and CEO of USO, so it's only fitting that I'm coming — working in the assembly line.

You can't be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. You have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket. I made my choice.

4TH GRADE TEACHER: What can you do for our children in public education, private education, that will make a difference in America today?
DUBYA: Here's what we're going to do. We're going to continue to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, is what we're going to do.

That's why you've got to be careful about this rhetoric, we're only going to tax the rich. You know who the — the rich in America happen to be the small business owners. That's what that means.

The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.

As you know, we don't have relationships with Iran. I mean, that's — ever since the late '70s, we have no contacts with them, and we've totally sanctioned them.

Health savings accounts are new. Anything new in society, when it comes to health, requires a certain amount of education. Now, if you're a small business like Sharon is, I want you to listen to these accounts.

There's over 60 nations involved with the Proliferation Security Initiative, an initiative that we helped put together during my administration. Some 40 nations are involved in Afghanistan. Nearly 30 nations are involved in Iraq. We've got good, strong alliances of people working together. I'm never going to turn over our national security needs to leaders of other countries, however.

It's hard to be successful if you don't make something somebody doesn't want to buy.

In the health care category, we have two winners: Baptist Hospitals in Pensacola, Florida — I was wondering whether if we called it Pentecostal Hospitals, we'd be — Saint Luke's Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri.

I have been saying that this economy looks pretty strong, and today 112,000 new jobs were created last month — a report that 112,000 new jobs were created last month. And that's good.

If I may have your attention for a second. First, I want to thank Governor Warner for his hospitality and leading this important state through Hurricane Isabel.

There's a lot of neighborliness taking place in the state of Virginia and North Carolina and Maryland, where if somebody hurts and somebody's lonely, somebody needs help is finding refuge and solace because a fellow citizen has taken it upon him or herself to help somebody in need.

I appreciate Dwight Adams, who is the Director of the FBI Laboratory. He just gave me a fine tour. It's pretty sophisticated facilities.

We've been through a terrorist attack and a national emergency, we've been through a recession, we've been through corporate scandals where CEOs forgot what it means to be a responsible citizen. People didn't tell the truth. They were not responsible to their shareholders and employees. They will be held to account for their irresponsible behavior. And that was a shock to our system. We've been through war.

If we get rid of the double taxation of dividends, it means that one of the good investment vehicles for a child who is young today will be a dividend paying stock.

The American people is this country's greatest asset.

As I said in my State of the Union, liberty is not America's gift to the world. It is God's gift to human mankind, and that's what I believe.

You can help by helping build one of these school chests. It doesn't matter how you do it, how you raise the money. Just get it done.

I don't want to hold two press conferences in one week.

There's no doubt in my mind, Harold, that the American people will respond. And when they do, Laura and I will thank them from the bottom of my heart.

The folks who conducted this act on our country on September 11th made a big mistake. They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander-in-chief, too.

[This is] a war that declares a new declaration, that says if you harbor a terrorist you're just as guilty as the terrorist.

And in order to make sure that we're able to conduct a winning victory, we've got to have the best intelligence we can possibly have. And my report to the nation is we've got the best intelligence we can possibly have.

And I'm here to thank everybody who loves America in this building.

We have a responsibility and Congress needs to bring me a bill that will help the patients who come to these hospitals maintain a reasonable insurance, and a bill that doesn't help lawyers.

Reading is the basics for all learning.