THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you,
Governor -- I mean -- (laughter and applause.) Thank you all
for coming. Listen, I've been in Alaska long enough to
remember when Edith Holmes sang The Star Spangled
Banner. (Laughter.) God rest her
soul. I actually met Edith when I was living in Fairbanks in
1974. I had the privilege of voting in the Republican
primary in 1974. As you know, you've got a one-month
residency requirement -- and I met it. So I
voted. I can't remember who I voted for, but I was a proud
participant.
I know I'm the only President ever to have voted in any kind of
primary in Alaska. (Laughter.) But I have such
fond memories of Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula and
Anchorage. And as you know, there was a period of time when
you had kind of weak immigration laws and a lot of Texans came up
here. (Laughter.) Many of whom were my
friends. But such a fabulous state. And thanks
for such warm hospitality. And who said your three electoral
votes didn't matter? (Laughter and applause.)
I'm real thrilled to be traveling with Laura,
obviously. The last time I went overseas she didn't
go. It was right after 9/11; I went to Shanghai for a quick
meeting and came back. Now the people of the Far East are
going to get to see a fabulous wife and a great mother and a great
First Lady for the country. (Applause.)
I do want to thank all those folks who put this on today, and I
particularly want to thank the members of the Alaska congressional
delegation -- Senator Stevens, Senator Murkowski and Congressman
Young. These are three very accomplished, capable, smart people who
also have got a little bit of seniority, which
helps. (Laughter.)
But, Senator Stevens, I wish he were here because I would like for
him to hear what I am going to say about him. He is
a -- he's a great legislator who loves America,
and he is smart, and I really, really enjoyed working with
him. He is a wonderful representative of the state of
Alaska, obviously. But those of you who know Ted Stevens,
you can't pigeonhole him just for one state. He really cares
deeply about the nation, as does Frank.
And Don Young and I have worked a lot of times together on this
airport security bill. And it's a good piece of legislation,
and he deserves a lot of credit for seizing a moment and getting some
good legislation through. It was a period of time when it
was so important for the country to see that the government was
actually doing something constructive at home to make -- to kind of
ease the nerves of the American people. And Don did a really
good job of working that issue. And I was proud to sign the
bill that he had a major hand in getting to my desk.
And I also want to thank all the statehouse folks and the Mayor,
George W. -- another George W. -- (laughter) -- there
is. But it's a thrill for us to be here. We're on
our way, obviously, to Japan, South Korea and China. It's an
important trip, because we've got a lot in common with those
nations. We've got trading interests. And as I
mentioned in the speech over there, that one of the things I am going
to continually remind these nations, that trade ought to be a two-way
street, that if we open our market, they ought to open up
theirs.
And I will work hard to do that, because we have got a competitive
advantage in a lot of important areas, one of which is
agriculture. I truly believe that it is in our nation's
interests and the world's interests that we tear down these barriers to
trade, so that we can feed people who are hungry.
I'm also going to talk about our values. The world
obviously knows that we're willing to defend values, the values of
freedom. And I'll explain to the leaders firsthand my
absolute determination to do that.
I told the country at different times right after September the
11th that the farther we got away from the date, it's likely that
people would grow weary and tired of the efforts. Not me,
nor my administration. History has called us into
action. And action is where we'll be. I've laid
out a pretty clear set of objectives early on in the war against
terror, but -- all focused on defending freedom. And it's as
simple as that. It's good versus evil, and freedom is under
attack.
My job, obviously, covers a lot of fronts, but there's nothing more
important than the security of the American people, and to prevent an
attack. And as much as I wish I didn't have to say this, I
still believe we are under attack. And I see threats every
morning. Having said that, you can rest assured we're doing
everything in our power to keep America safe everything possible,
obviously, within the confines of the Constitution, we're doing.
And I'm proud to report that the team is really working
hard. You know, when I first came into office -- or, not
first came into office -- well, first came into office, actually right
around the September 11th period, the FBI's function was really to run
down spies or white collar criminals. And there's nothing
wrong with that, that's an important function of the
FBI. But I can tell you with certainty they've got a new
major focus, and that's preventing an attack. We've got over
4,000 FBI agents around the country that are working hand-in-glove with
state and local authorities, just to give -- just to keep running down
every lead, and every hint, and every opportunity to keep the country
safe. And we are. And I'm pleased with the
efforts being made.
But I'm also a realistic fellow. And I know that, in the
long-term, in order to keep America safe, we've got to keep this vast
coalition we've put together, and rout out terror wherever it hides and
wherever it exists. And that's what we're going to
do. That's what we're going to do.
The amazing thing for me is that the country is so patient and so
determined and so resolved. And I am very grateful for that,
as I'm sure you can imagine. It is such a powerful feeling
to know that I represent a great land that is united in our efforts to
secure freedom.
The other thing that I find interesting is that not only are we
going to leave the world a safer and freer place, but I believe the
culture is beginning to change. And one of the reasons I
first ran for office in Texas and then eventually the presidency, was I
was concerned about a culture which, as I said in my State of the
Union, said, if it feels good, do it. The second half of
that is, if you've got a problem, blame somebody else. And
my wish is for the country is that we issue in a period of personal
responsibility. (Applause.)
That means if you're a mother or a father, that your most important
job is to love your children with all your heart and all your
soul. That's really what a period of personal responsibility
means; we all rededicate ourselves to the parenting, if we're fortunate
enough to have a child. Or it means that you'll love a
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. Or if you're corporate
America, it means you will have full disclosure on all your assets and
liabilities. (Laughter.) Seriously, so that you
don't mislead your shareholders or employees. There's
certain responsibility that comes to those of us who have been
entrusted with people's lives, in my case, or corporate America's
lives, or individual lives, and we must seize that moment.
And you know, I -- probably the most meaningful moment for me was
on Flight 93, when the guys got on the airplane and they hear -- they
get the word that something's happening in Washington, the plane's
hijacked. They tell their loved ones they love them, they
say a prayer, and they drive the plane into the ground. It
is the epitome of taking responsibility to save somebody else's
life. It's the ultimate sacrifice.
I believe the country is asking how best to make ourselves better.
And as I said in the speech in there, one way to do that obviously is
to practice acts of kindness. And it's that -- it's the
compilation of these acts of decency and responsibility that will
eventually define America and eventually win the war against
terror. (Applause.)
We've got some -- besides the military, besides the budget items,
there's obviously an issue that's relevant here to Alaska that I am
passionate about, and that is energy. It is so important
that our nation be wise about our energy policy, and be -- first of
all, we've got to conserve better, and we will. There's new
technologies coming on that will enhance conservation. And
that's important, no question about it. The less energy we
use and still are able to grow our economy, the less dependent we are
on somebody else's energy.
But we've also got to explore at home. And there is no
better place to do so than in
Alaska. (Applause.) There is a myth that somehow
the environment cannot be protected if you find natural
gas. As a matter of fact, natural gas will help protect the
environment. (Laughter.) And it is -- we've got
to do everything in our power to send a clear message about reality,
that nature and exploration can coexist in a positive way.
I want to thank the Teamsters. Jerry Hood traveled with
us today, and I've met with Jimmy Hoffa. He understands that
this is more than just national security. We're also talking
about people's jobs. This is a chance for people to get to
work, and to make a living, and to put -- and to help battle this
recession that we face.
So I am -- I told Frank, I can assure you, this is not only
important for our national security interests, it's right for America
that we pursue this. And obviously you don't need to
persuade your -- any elected officials here. But if you
happen to know somebody else in Congress that seems to like it, tell
them the truth, tell them how it works, tell them how important it is
for the country.
But we're having the time of our lives and it's been an -- as you
can imagine, a fantastic experience in many ways, sad in many ways,
very emotional for a period of time. But I've never been
more optimistic about a country or a philosophy. I believe
that philosophy that our party honors is one that heralds the
individual, recognizes everybody has got potential and that the job of
the government is to help people realize their
potential. It's not to create wealth, but an environment in
which people are willing to take risks so that the entrepreneur can
flourish, you can own your own business. We believe strongly
in the freedoms that we adhere so closely to, that -- we believe in
private property rights and the rights of every citizen.
And so it's a proud moment for me to be able to represent the
Republican philosophy to the United States, but, more importantly, show
that it works. It works for people.
And then so the tax cut that I campaigned on that we worked hard to
get not only has made a huge difference in the lives of our citizens,
but it came by at the right time. Just as the economy was --
declared stagnant and dead in the water, we got a tax cut going which
means people have got more money to spend, which means it's kind of a
boost in the arm for our economy. And I wish I could say
we're out of recession. I don't think we are. But
there are some positive signs happening.
So, all in all, I guess what I'm telling you is, one, I love being
your President. I want to thank you for helping me get there
-- (applause.) I am incredibly optimistic -- optimistic
about the country, optimistic about peace, optimistic about our
future. I just feel so strong and it's great to be a
President of a land of so many good people. And they don't
even have to be Republican, as far as I'm concerned.
(Laughter.) People from all walks of life.
So thanks for greeting Laura and me. Thanks for giving
us a good send off as we go on to this important foreign policy
trip. And may God bless you all. Thank
you. (Applause.)