Cheney voices support for coal in Raleigh County, W.Va.
The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. --Sep. 14--BEAVER
Sep. 14--BEAVER -- With more than a dozen coal miners standing behind him under a "Bush and Cheney Are Friends of Coal" banner, Vice President Dick Cheney pushed the administration's clean coal proposals to a Raleigh County Memorial Airport crowd.
He criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's energy policy,
saying it "doesn't seem to find as much use for coal," while he said
state residents "can be certain" Bush has a policy for using coal.
America Coming Together, a group opposing the president's re-election, was
quick to point out that Bush vowed to spend $2 billion for clean-coal technology
projects during an October 2000 interview.
But his campaign noted the May announcement that the administration will
spend $107 million over five years for a facility in Greenbrier County that will
burn coal waste to generate electricity with little pollution.
The vice president had been expected to be accompanied by his wife, Lynne,
Monday afternoon. Instead, Cheney's daughter Liz joined him as several hundred
people crowded into a hangar to hear him speak.
And, while coal and the nation's security seemed to be the topics of the day,
the crowd let out its loudest cheers when Cheney attacked partial-birth abortion
and reiterated the administration's support for individuals owning guns.
"I thought he brought up all the points that are important here,"
said Shady Spring resident Chris Blevins.
Emphasizing the coal industry and traditional values excited Mark Agnor, too.
"That's what I was looking to hear and I heard it," the Beckley
resident said.
Cheney said 9,500 jobs have been created in West Virginia since May. He did
not mention the hundreds of jobs lost in the Kanawha Valley in recent weeks --
including Monday's announcement that more than 250 people will lose their jobs
at a Charleston AT&T call center -- or that the state has 18,100 fewer jobs
since he took office in 2001.
"We know there are still challenges," the vice president said.
"The president and I will not be satisfied until every American who wants
to work can find a job."
The war on terror consumed the early parts of Cheney's short speech. He
praised Bush for his decisions to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. "He makes
these decisions with the wisdom and humility Americans expect from their
president," Cheney said.
Bush was correct to move against the enemies with only a few allies and
without United Nations support, he said. "We will never seek a permission
slip to defend the United States of America," Cheney said to loud applause.
He said the world is safer now, saying the administration has stopped the
black-marketing of nuclear weapons and components. "The biggest threat we
face today is having nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists," he
said.
With a son serving in Iraq, former Summers County Sheriff Tom Briers said he
and his wife, Martha, wanted to show support for the president's policies.
"He is for the same things we believe in," he said.
Cheney attacked Kerry's Senate record to intermittent crowd chants of
"flip-flop." He said a senator can be wrong for 20 years and not
endanger the nation, not so for a president. "A president always casts the
deciding vote," he said.
Outside the hangar other state GOP hopefuls scurried around to meet and greet
rallygoers. Gubernatorial hopeful Monty Warner, attorney general nominee Hiram
Lewis and local state Senate nominee Jack Fincham were among them. Cheney didn't
recognize any from the podium.
State Sen. Russ Weeks, R-Raleigh, said the region is primed to vote
Republican this year. Despite Raleigh County's 3-1 Democratic registration, Bush
carried the county in 2000 and Weeks upset an incumbent Democrat for his seat
representing Raleigh and Wyoming counties in 2002.
Bringing the vice president, and a previous Bush visit to Beckley, helps the
cause, he said. "That keeps doing what I like to do: keeping the pot
stirred."
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