CAMPAIGN RALLY COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA

REMARKS OF GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BOB DOLE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1996

[excerpts]

Another thing we're going to do -- as was mentioned just a bit earlier -- was have a real war on drugs. We're going to meet them at the border, we're going to intercept the drugs, and we're going to make it work for your children and your grandchildren.

And you may recall -- you may recall how they used to make fun of Nancy Reagan because she had this program, "Just Say No." You know, the funny thing about it is it works. Mothers heard the message, grandmothers heard the message, fathers, grandfathers and children heard the message, and they stopped smoking marijuana, they didn't start smoking marijuana and it worked. But since this administration has come into power it's increased 105 percent across the board -- 105 percent more drug use in America. They came in and raised the white flag.

That's going to be a top priority again. We will fully restore the Office of Drug Control Policy, redouble our efforts to put drug criminals behind bars -- that's where they belong and that's where they're going to be if they commit a federal crime. We will appoint judges who will take a top no-nonsense approach to drug offenders. I don't want liberal judges on the bench. They don't need to apply in a Dole-Kemp administration -- they're not going to make it.

I want someone to strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States on the bench! And keep in mind -- and some people don't think about it -- there may be three Supreme Court vacancies in the next four years. Who do you want making those replacements? Certainly not Bill Clinton. You want Bob Dole and Jack Kemp!

And as commander and chief working with the governors like Pete Wilson, I am willing to use the capabilities of our armed forces to help stop illegal drugs before they even get into the country before they even get into the country. We will expand our use of military technologies, including satellites and aerial surveillance and listening posts to track drug movements towards our borders. And instead of ignoring the contribution made by the anti-drug effort by the men and women of the National Guard, I'll recognize their capabilities and work with the governors to involve the National Guard in keeping our kids safe from drugs. That is a promise that will be kept.

And every single person who works in a Dole-Kemp administration, from the highest Cabinet officer all the way down the line, will speak with one voice: Drug use is wrong and will not be tolerated in a Dole-Kemp administration! And I will treat illegal drugs for what they really are: The moral equivalent of terrorism. That's what drugs are! That's what they do to your children, that's what they do to your grandchildren -- and it's time it stopped.

There is nothing more precious than the life of the child. But if you had an incoming missile into this area we couldn't defend against that either, as the governor pointed out. But every time we import more and more cocaine or more marijuana from some other country, a lot of it comes through Mexico. That's poison right into the bodies and right into the veins of our children. And it's got to stop, and we're going to stop it. We are going to cut off the supply.


So I would say to our opponent this is the kick off. Our convention is over, their convention is over -- we're in very fertile ground here. I told your chairman last night we would settle for a margin in Orange County -- well, let's say 425,000 votes. That would be a good margin in Orange County. And in case you've forgotten -- in case you've forgotten the promises Clinton made in '92, and what he tried to do to America, remember the tax cut promise, remember nationalized health care in America that failed fortunately. Remember him fighting the balanced-budget amendment -- he got six Democrats to change their views -- some will even campaign for a balanced-budget, like Dianne Feinstein, and then voted against it. We have more teenagers using drugs, we have more liberal judges who turn their back on evidence involving drugs from time to time. We are defenseless against incoming ballistic missiles. We have an economy producing too few jobs -- and on and on -- with more government in our lives, more government in our lives -- and that's what they believe in.