For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 26, 2001
President Welcomes Aid Workers Rescued from Afghanistan
Remarks by the President in Welcoming to the White House the Aid Workers Rescued From Afghanistan
The Rose Garden
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm so honored
to welcome two courageous souls to the Rose Garden to celebrate a story
of joy and a story of hope. A story of two women who were
rescued; a story about the faith that sustained them and a family that
clearly loves them.
Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry decided to go to help people who
needed help. Their faith led them to
Afghanistan. One woman who knows them best put it this
way: they had a calling to serve the poorest of the poor,
and Afghanistan is where that calling took them.
And Heather and Dayna's faith in God sustained them throughout
their ordeal. It's a wonderful story about prayer, about a
faith that can sustain people in good times and in bad
times. Their faith was a source of hope that kept them from
becoming discouraged.
I talked to them right after their release, their freedom, and I
sensed no bitterness in their voice, no fatigue, just
joy. It was an uplifting experience for me to talk to these
courageous souls.
Theirs is also a story about people who -- in our country -- who
rallied for them. People prayed all around the
country. I was particularly struck by the fact that
Heather's Dad offered to take her place in prison. I was
struck by the fact that a country preacher out of Central Texas flew to
Afghanistan to lend his presence in any way that would
help. I know there are a lot of people right outside of
Crawford that were praying for these girls' release. And
when they were, people all across Baylor University
cheered. Something besides football became more important in
their lives -- life, itself.
This is a story of a military that is committed to achieving
certain objectives. In my speech in front of the United
States Congress, I said to the Taliban, that one of the objectives was
to release the humanitarian aid workers that were being detained
against their will. We've achieved that
objective. And I want to thank our military for rescuing
these girls. And I want to thank those on the ground in
Afghanistan who helped with their rescue, as well.
So it's a joyous day to welcome two good souls to the Rose Garden.
I'll ask them to say a few comments, and then I'll be glad to answer
some questions, if you have any.
MS. MERCER: Well, again, we just want to express our
infinite thanks to our nation, to our friends and our family who stood
with us, day and night. I mean, really, today is a day of
great rejoicing for both of us, to be back on our homeland, and to
celebrate with our nation a story of victory.
Today is a great honor for us, as well, to be here with our
President. It's probably one of the greatest privileges of my
life. And I just want to also thank our
President. During our time in prison, we prayed almost daily
for our nation's government and for the President. And we
were so honored to be a part of a country that has such a man of God
and such a wonderful leader serving our nation.
We are so excited to be back. And, again, we know we're
here because of the prayers of people all over the country, all over
the world. And I think if we had a whole lifetime to say
thank you, we wouldn't do it right, we wouldn't say it
appropriately. So thank you to all of you who have been a
part, who have not given up. Everyone from our church back
in Waco, our families, people we've never met all over the country, to
the U.S. military and to all those, the countless people in the U.S.
government who helped us and served us for the last three and a half
months. We're so grateful and it's a great honor to be here
today and celebrate with you.
Thank you.
MS. CURRY: Well, I can't really add much to
that. That was perfectly said. But, again, I'm
just so thrilled to be here, so thrilled to be alive and to be with my
family again. I'll never be able to thank America and the
different Christians around the world who prayed for us, literally,
24/7, around the clock they were praying for us.
Even since getting out, just talking to people who said that they
prayed, that every day they prayed with their children for us -- every
day. And people we didn't know at all. And it's just
amazing. And even getting out, I think I've realized more
than ever that we really would not -- we would not be standing here if
people hadn't prayed for us. It truly was a miracle and I
just thank the Lord Jesus Christ for getting us out and answering all
those prayers and taking such wonderful care of us while we were
there.
There wasn't a day we didn't know His presence with
us. He gave us incredible peace while we were there, even
though things were all crazy around us. It was like we just
had peace in our hearts and He gave us joy, even in the midst of a
terrible situation.
And even hearing about September 11th, when we found out about it
while we were in prison, our hearts just broke and we just prayed a lot
for the country while we were there. And, anyway, again,
it's just an incredible honor to be standing here, to be
alive. I'm just thankful to all the people that
prayed. The American military did an incredible job of
getting us out. I'm just more than ever proud, so proud to
be an American and thankful to have grown up here and live here.
Thanks a lot.
THE PRESIDENT: Good job.
Q Mr. President, following up on the talk of
the military's role in rescuing these two ladies. Can you
tell us why you have deployed a thousand Marines, at least a thousand
Marines this weekend on the ground? What their mission
is? How many more are coming? And how much more
risky has their mission become with this advancement of the troops?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, I'll let the Defense
Department explain the mission. Well, first of all, we know
the mission: the mission is to bring al Qaeda to justice and
to make sure Afghanistan no longer serves as a haven for
terrorists. And we've got a military strategy that we're
implementing. I'll let the Secretary of Defense in his daily
briefing go into the operational details as he sees fit.
But this is a dangerous period of time. This is a period
of time in which we're now hunting down the people who are responsible
for bombing America. I said a long time ago, one of our
objectives is to smoke them out and get them running and to bring them
to justice. We're smoking them out, they're running and now
we're going to bring them to justice. I also said we'll use
whatever means is necessary to achieve that objective. And
that's exactly what we're going to do.
The American people must understand that we've got a long way to go
in order to achieve our objective in this theater. But we're
patient, we're resolved, and we will stay the course until we achieve
our objective.
Q Mr. President, what's your reaction, sir,
to news that the U.S. economy has been in a recession since March?
THE PRESIDENT: My reaction that -- since
March? Well, I knew that the economy was not in good shape
right after I took office, that's why I urged that we pass a tax relief
plan. I remember the debate clearly about people saying,
well, the economy is strong. But it wasn't. It
was flagging, it was weakening.
And that tax relief plan is going to be part of an economic
recovery package that will make sense for the long term of the
country. We've got low interest rates. We've got
reasonable energy prices. We've got good tax policy in
place. We've got the framework for economic
recovery. I hope Congress moves quickly on an economic
stimulus package. The Senate needs to get a bill and get it
into conference so we can resolve differences and I can sign it before
Christmas.
But I am obviously aware that our economy is slow. And
we will do everything we can to enhance recovery.
Q Mr. President, getting back to the earlier
question, aside from September 11th, which cannot be forgotten, the war
on terrorism has been truly relatively American casualty
free. And in recent years, Americans have been generally
casualty averse in its military operations.
Are you concerned that Americans may suddenly start getting back
into that pattern where they're less accepting of American casualties?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, obviously, no
President or Commander in Chief hopes anybody lose his life in the
theater. But it's going to happen. I said this
early on as the campaign began, America must be prepared for loss of
life. I believe the American people understand that we've
got a mighty struggle on our hands and that there will be
sacrifice. After all, some people made the greatest
sacrifice possible on September the 11th, and that is those who took
the airplane down. They said the Lord's Prayer on the phone
to their loved ones; the loved ones heard, "let's roll," and they took
a plane down so that it might not kill others, such as people working
in the White House or at the Capitol.
No, I think the American people understand we're in for a long,
long struggle in order to rid the world of terrorism, and that there
might be loss of life. I pray that not be the
case. But our brave men and women who signed up for the
military understand the risk inherent with being in the military.
Q Mr. President, at Fort Campbell, you
said: across the world and across the years, we will fight
the evil ones, and we will win --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q -- suggesting very strongly that
Afghanistan is only the first step. What would you say about
Iraq, as you begin to look at the next steps in the campaign against
global terrorism? What message would you like to send to
them now?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, my message is, is that if you
harbor a terrorist, you're a terrorist. If you feed a
terrorist, you're a terrorist. If you develop weapons of
mass destruction that you want to terrorize the world, you'll be held
accountable. And I also have said, as I recall at the White
House, we're going to make sure that we accomplish each mission that we
tackle. First things first.
Now having said that, we, the coalition, has arrested over 300
people. I can't wait to thank my friend, President Aznar of Spain, for
having arrested eight terrorists in Spain. In other words,
there is an international drag -- international effort to bring people
to justice. And over 300 people that have been involved with
al Qaeda have been brought to justice. Terrorism is
terrorism. In this country, we'll deal with it.
Q Sir, you mentioned President Aznar of
Spain. Spain says that they don't want to extradite those
people unless they can be tried under our standard court system, and
not by a military tribunal. Are you concerned with the
amount of dissent over your decision to establish military tribunals?
THE PRESIDENT: Not the least bit concerned. I
made the right decision. A President must have the option of
using a military tribunal in times of war. I look forward to
explaining to my friend, the President of Spain, why I made that
decision. It makes eminent sense to have the military
tribunal option available. It makes sense for national
security purposes, it makes sense for the protection of potential
jurors. It makes sense for homeland security. It
is the right decision to make, and I will explain that to any leader
who asks.
Q Mr. President, it seems an important line
has been crossed with the attempt to clone a human being by a private
laboratory. What's your reaction to that? Do you
think there's any way to put this genie back in the bottle?
THE PRESIDENT: My reaction, Terry, is that the use of
embryos to clone is wrong. We should not as a society grow
life to destroy it. And that's exactly what's taking
place. And I have made that position very
clear. I haven't changed my mind. And this
evidence today that they're trying to achieve that objective, to grow
an embryo in order to extract a stem cell, in order for that embryo to
die is bad public policy. Not only that, it's morally wrong
in my opinion.
Q Mr. President, does the current threat
justify the Vice President remaining in an undisclosed
location? And even though he's not --
THE PRESIDENT: I just ate breakfast with
him. It's no longer
undisclosed. (Laughter.) And he looks
great. I think my -- was swell, he still looks swell.
Q How long is this separation going to go
on? Do you think that --
THE PRESIDENT: I had breakfast with him. I
mean, I shouldn't say that. Right after I had breakfast, I
met with him. I spent the morning with him. As a
matter of fact, he was here to welcome these families into the White
House.
Q But do you still consider him, even though
he's not as visible and doesn't, in terms of visibility, appear to be
playing the same kind of role we saw before September 11th --
THE PRESIDENT: No, the Vice President is very much
engaged in the administration, and I value his advice. I
trust his judgment. I talk to him every single
day. And today I was visiting with him face to
face. As I say, he looks swell.
Stretch.
Q To follow up on Major's question.
THE PRESIDENT: What was his question?
Q Whether Iraq could be the next target of
the anti-terror campaign.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, okay.
Q Does Saddam Hussein have to agree to allow
weapons inspectors back into Iraq? Is that an unconditional
demand of yours?
THE PRESIDENT: Saddam Hussein agreed to allow inspectors
in his country. And in order to prove to the world he's not
developing weapons of mass destruction, he ought to let the inspectors
back in.
Q And if he doesn't, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes?
Q And if he does not do that, sir, what will
be the consequence? If he does not do that, what will be the
consequences?
THE PRESIDENT: That's up for -- he'll find out.
Q Sir, what is your thinking right now about
taking the war to Iraq? You suggested that on Wednesday,
when you said Afghanistan was just the beginning.
THE PRESIDENT: I stand by those
words. Afghanistan is still just the
beginning. If anybody harbors a terrorist, they're a
terrorist. If they fund a terrorist, they're a
terrorist. If they house terrorists, they're
terrorists. I mean, I can't make it any more clearly to
other nations around the world. If they develop weapons of
mass destruction that will be used to terrorize nations, they will be
held accountable. And as for Mr. Saddam Hussein, he needs
to let inspectors back in his country, to show us that he is not
developing weapons of mass destruction.
Q Mr. President, following up on that
thought, when you initially made -- defined terrorism in your speech
before Congress, you did not include them as weapons of mass
destruction. Are you now extending this to countries like
North Korea, other places where we have had evidence over the years
that there's been development of such weapons?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, clearly, in terms of North Korea,
we want North Korea to allow inspectors in, to determine whether or not
they are. We've had that discussion with North
Korea. I made it very clear to North Korea that in order for
us to have relations with them, that we want to know, are they
developing weapons of mass destruction? And they ought to
stop proliferating.
So part of the war on terror is to deny terrorist weapons getting
-- I mean, weapons to be used for means of terror getting in the hands
of nations that will use them. And so I'm not quite sure of
the --
Q I'm just asking if you've expanded your
definition to countries who don't just harbor terrorists, but also
develop such weapons.
THE PRESIDENT: Have I expanded the
definition? I've always had that definition, as far as I'm
concerned.
Yes, ma'am.
Q Mr. President, you've said a number of
times you will go to all lengths to get members of al
Qaeda. There's now news that Pakistan has air-lifted some of
its citizens back to Pakistan. Are you concerned that they
may be taking members of al Qaeda and will not turn them over?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I'm not. We've had good
discussions with Pakistan. They understand the objective is
to bring al Qaeda to justice and they've indicated they'll help us do
so.