Miners, Rescuers Embody U.S. Spirit, Bush Says

President Bush reveled in the company of the nine rescued Pennsylvania coal miners Monday, saying the courage and determination that they and their rescuers displayed also will help America win the war on terrorism and overcome the country’s economic downtown.

“What took place here in Pennsylvania really represents the best of our country--what I call the spirit of America, the great strength of our country,” Bush told several hundred residents of southwestern Pennsylvania, including the miners and their families.

Before his public remarks at the Green Tree Volunteer Fire Department here in suburban Pittsburgh, the president met privately with the miners, who then shared the limelight with him as he spoke.

At a time when he is coming under increasing partisan criticism for his handling of the war and the economy, Bush struck an unrelentingly upbeat note as he sought to tap into the groundswell of joy that accompanied the miners’ rescue from a flooded mine shaft.

The president hailed the desperate, round-the-clock rescue effort as “a living example of people working together,” and he added:

“It is the determined spirit of America, and our optimism, and our ability to solve problems which will help us deal with the economic downturn.”

The miners were freed July 27 after being trapped 240 feet underground for about 78 hours. On Sunday, they and their families joined hundreds of people to give thanks at a Somerset County church, about 100 yards from the flooded mine.

Bush stopped in this key electoral battleground state--his 12th visit as president--after a long weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, at his parents’ seaside compound.

Democrats moved to deflate Bush’s appearance with the miners by accusing his administration of inadequately funding mine inspection safety programs.

Before leaving Pennsylvania, Bush also signed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which the Senate unanimously approved on a voice vote late last month. The measure confers basic rights to all children born alive, regardless of their stage of development, including fetuses who survive an abortion procedure.

The bill is an outgrowth of the contentious congressional debate in the mid- and late 1990s over whether to ban “partial-birth” abortions.

During that controversy, it became clear that the nation lacked “any foundational consensus on an infant’s legal status,” said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who sponsored the bill in the Senate.

The measure, according to Santorum, defines a “common-sensical, straightforward notion that a viable child delivered into this world, be it by natural or induced labor, or caesarean section, is a person and is therefore protected under the nation’s laws.”

At the signing ceremony in Pittsburgh, Bush extolled the bill for protecting “the most vulnerable members of our society” because it “establishes a principle in American law and American conscience: There is no right to destroy a child who has been born alive.”

Before returning to Washington, Bush also spoke at a $1-million fund-raiser in Pittsburgh for Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Mike Fisher, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, who is engaged in a close election contest against former Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat.

Addressing a crowd of partisan Republicans, Bush said: “I’m optimistic about the economy. I should be--the fundamentals are strong.”

The president also advised public patience in the war on terrorism, warning: “There’s no telling how many wars it’ll take to secure freedom in the homeland.”

But he added: “I believe we can achieve peace.”

The president is scheduled to undergo his annual physical today before leaving Washington for his ranch near Waco, Texas, where he plans to spend the rest of this month.

During that time, however, Bush will travel to 15 cities or more around the country, including San Diego and Stockton, to campaign for GOP candidates and to promote his agenda.

Bush also is scheduled to host an economic forum on Aug. 13 at Baylor University in Waco.