President Receives 911 Report
Remarks by the President on the 9/11 Commission Report
The Rose Garden
9:33 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: It's been my honor to welcome Chairman Kean, Vice
Chairman Hamilton to the Oval Office. We just had a good discussion
about the 9/11 Commission Report. I want to thank these two gentlemen
for serving their country so well and so admirably. They've done a
really good job of learning about our country, learning about what went
wrong prior to September the 11th and making very solid, sound
recommendations about how to move forward. I assured them that where
government needs to act, we will.
I want to thank the Commission members, as well. These people
worked really hard, long hours. They took time out of their private
lives to serve America, and have left their mark in a very constructive
and positive way.
These two men bring a common-sense approach to how to move
forward. They recognize what I recognize, and America recognizes, that
there's still a threat, and that we in government have an obligation to
do everything in our power to safeguard the American people. And the
report that they are about to present to me puts out some very
constructive recommendations. And I look forward to studying their
recommendations, and look forward to working with responsible parties
within my administration to move forward on those recommendations.
As well, we look forward to working with the Congress on the
implementation of ways to do our duty. And the most important duty we
have is the security of our fellow countrymen.
So, thank you, men, for your service. I'm proud you're here. You
did a wonderful job.
MR. KEAN: Mr. President, we'd like to present you a copy of our
report. I thank you very much for giving me the honor of serving. I
thank you also on behalf of the Commission for unprecedented access to
documents, and cooperation from your administration. We were able to
see things that no commission or no member of Congress had ever seen in
doing our work. And we thank you for allowing us to do that.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you -- good job. I appreciate it. Thank you
all.