Cheney: Senator Courageous goes hunting with VP

by Mark Silva

Vice President Dick Cheney appeared in Atlanta last night.

But Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was not at the Georgia Republicans’ President’s Day Dinner.

“I know Saxby is going to win another term this November,’’ Cheney told the crowd. “Saxby, of course, is a very courageous man. I know that because he's one of my hunting buddies.’’

Cheney, who can tell the joke on himself now that some time has passed since he accidentally wounded a hunting companion in Texas, enjoyed the reception he got from the audience last night.

“A welcome like that is almost enough to make me want to run for office again,’’ he said to applause and laughter. “Almost, I said.’’

Because he serves as president of the Senate, Cheney said, he gets to see a lot of the senators.

“As vice president the only real duties you have under the Constitution is to preside over the Senate and to cast tie-breaking votes,’’ he said. “In fact, before the Constitution was written, some believed the vice presidency was entirely unnecessary. Benjamin Franklin said that if the office were to be created, anyone who served as vice president should be addressed as "Your Superfluous Excellency."

“That's a lot better than some of the things I've been called,’’ Cheney said.

There was a serious side to this talk, of course.

“President Bush and I look forward to helping our candidates, up and down the ticket, throughout this very important election year,’’ the vice president told the Georgia Republicans. “At the same time, we're focused on the jobs we have –- and we're going to keep at it and not waste a moment.

“We're going to take wise and careful steps to revitalize America's economy in a moment of challenge. And we'll press on in the fight against enemies who are determined to inflict great harm on this country,’’ the vice president said. “President Bush and I went to Washington determined to face challenges squarely, instead of ignoring them or leaving them for future generations. This has required a lot of big decisions –- none of them easy, none of them taken lightly.’’

It’s not only the economy with which they have grappled once before, and now again, he said.

“This country has gone six and a half years now without another catastrophic attack like 9/11,’’ he said. “Nobody can guarantee that we won't be hit again. The fact is the danger remains very real –- and we know the terrorists are still out there, still determined to hit us. I look at it every day and see it in our intelligence briefs. They are fanatical in their hatred. They have tried many times to cause more violence and death in this country. ..

“To win a war like this you need good intelligence -– the information that helps us figure out the movements of the enemy, the extent of their operation, the location of their cells, the plans they're making, the methods they use, and the targets they intend to strike,’’ he said.

“One of the ways we've prevented attacks and saved lives is by monitoring terrorist-related communications,’’ he added. “Last year Congress passed major revisions to the foreign intelligence surveillance law, but those revisions expired last month. For Congress to let that happen was simply irresponsible, and it makes this nation more vulnerable to attack.

“The important thing to remember, six and a half years after 9/11, is that the war on terror is still very real, that it won't be won on the defensive, and that we have to proceed on many fronts at the same time,’’ he said. “ For those of us who work in offices and sit at desks in Washington, D.C., the sacrifices required are pretty small compared to those of Americans serving in the Iraqi desert, or the mountains of Afghanistan, or the public servants who work day and night, with little margin for error, to detect a secret enemy before it's too late.

“In a time of war, we're only more sharply aware that the freedoms we enjoy and the rights we exercise can never be taken for granted,’’ Cheney said. “

”I'm confident that our jobs will be left in good hands,’’ the vice president said. “And when the last chapter is written, it'll be said that our nation became more prosperous and more secure because George W. Bush was President of these United States.’’