For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 18, 2002
Remarks by the President in Roundtable with Small Business Owners and Employees
Albers Manufacturing Company
O'Fallon, Missouri
2:30 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so very much Rolf, for your
invitation to come. Rolf is a classic example of what makes
America unique and strong. He had an idea, and a dream. He
built his own business. He employs good, hardworking people
here in Missouri. He's got a vibrant business.
And I explained to these folks that one of my jobs is to create an
environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes, in which
small business owners are able to keep making a living and keep people
employed. I talked about making the death tax* permanent, so that Rolf
can pass his assets to a family member, if he so chooses. I
talked about some expensing items, some items to make sure the small
business owner has got an incentive to invest more, which means more
jobs. Tomorrow I'll be talking about regulatory relief.
I'm also talking about ways so that a small business owner such as
Rolf can better afford health care for his employees, so that they're
able to work here, and at the same time enjoy health benefits like
those from -- large companies enjoy.
We had a good discussion. And it's important to the
American people to understand the role of small business in our
society. Most new jobs created are created by small
businesses. And more people are able to realize the American
Dream by starting their own business.
And so one of things we've all got to work toward is an environment
in which the small business flourishes. Rolf, thank you for
letting me come. I want to thank you all for a great
discussion. I'll answer a couple of questions.
(* should read "death tax repeal")
Q Mr. President, do you have any sense of
who carried out the attack yesterday in Pakistan at the church; why
they did it? Do you think they're trying to undermine
Musharraf and his support for the war on terrorism?
THE PRESIDENT: Very interesting question. I
talked to President Musharraf this morning, first thing. He
is very sympathetic, obviously. He was deeply concerned about the
American loss of life, and he wanted to share that with
me. And I appreciated his phone call. We both
talked about the need to continue fighting people that would kill for
political reasons. And it goes to show that there is still
some -- that that part of the world is a dangerous place at times.
And the tougher President Musharraf is, and the more steadfast the
United States is, the stronger we stand against terrorist activity, the
more lives we'll ultimately save.
Q Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: He doesn't know who it is -- excuse me
for a minute. He doesn't know who it is yet. And when we
find him, we'll bring him to justice.
Q Sir? Thank you. Vice
President Cheney is in the Middle East. Should he meet with Chairman
Arafat? Would you like to see that happen? And if no, why
not?
THE PRESIDENT: I talked to the Vice President
today. And he's had a very good visit in the Middle
East. He is -- matter of fact, he was 15 minutes away from
going in to see Prime Minister Sharon. He had General Zinni
with him. General Zinni is optimistic that we're making some
progress in the Middle East.
And the answer to who the Vice President ought to meet with or not
meet with depends upon General Zinni's recommendations. He's
the man on the ground. He's in charge of trying to foster an
environment such that we can get into Tenet, and then eventually get
into the Mitchell peace plan. Our government has laid out a pathway to
a peaceful resolution of a very difficult set of
problems. And Zinni's over there working hard to get us into
that process.
Q Mr. President, Operation Anaconda, we've
been told, is successful, and --
THE PRESIDENT: Operation?
Q Operation Anaconda we're being told is
successful, and it's over. Do you feel the war in Afghanistan -- that
part of the war is now over?
THE PRESIDENT: John, I don't. I feel like
we've got a lot more fighting to do in Afghanistan. First of
all, we were successful in Operation Anaconda. I want to
thank our troops, our brave troops, for fighting in incredibly tough
terrain, and against difficult circumstances. And the difficult
circumstances were not only the terrain, it was the fact that we were
fighting against an enemy that refuses to surrender. These
are people that are there to die. And we accommodated them.
And it's a -- but there are more al Qaeda killers in Afghanistan,
perhaps in Pakistan, willing to come back into
Afghanistan. The reason -- AND I know for a fact that they
were trying to -- in the midst of this battle, in the midst of the
United States Military and our coalition forces being very successful,
they were trying to reinforce. And these are people that are
-- they were willing to reinforce in the midst of the Shar-i-Kot
Mountain range, where they were getting wiped out, they were willing to
come back into Afghanistan to continue to try to hurt
us. These are killers. They hate America, they
hate America's freedom, they hate what America stands
for. And they are relentless.
But so are we, and we will be more relentless than they
are. That's why I've urged the American people to be
patient, and the American people are patient. And that's why
I've urged Congress to fund the U.S. military. And I hope Congress
does fund the U.S. military to the fullest, because we've got a lot
more fighting to do in Afghanistan.
Q Many Mideast leaders are saying that the
U.S. should be focusing more on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and
less on Iraq. Can you give a reaction to that?
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate their advice, but we will
not allow one of the world's most dangerous leaders to have the world's
most dangerous weapons, and hold the United States and our friends and
allies hostage. That's just not going to happen. And so I
appreciate their advice. But we will continue working with
them. We will continue dialogue. I have told
people that we're a deliberate nation. We'll talk to our
friends and allies. But what I said about the axis of evil
is what I mean. I can't be any more plain about it.
END 2:37 P.M. EST
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