THE PRESIDENT: I have asked my
Cabinet to come in and give me a briefing on the progress that we're
making on the war on terrorism. I can report to the American
people we're making substantial progress.
First, our Secretary of State and our
diplomats around the world have put together a broad coalition of
nations to make a stand against terrorists, terrorism and those who
harbor terrorists. And I'm really pleased. This
coalition includes not only our friends in Europe and South America,
but as we saw at the OIC Conference, the Organization of Islamic
Conferences, many Muslim nations have taken a very firm stand against
terrorist activities, as well.
Obviously, the Secretary of Defense and
the Defense Department has been busy. As I said today,
America is very proud of the men and women who wear the uniform;
they're proud of your leadership too, sir. We'll leave the
military briefing for the Pentagon.
I had a good visit with our Secretary of
Treasury, who informed me that we've now frozen $40 million worth of
assets -- Taliban and al Qaeda assets all around the world, and we've
just begun. We want the terrorists to know that we're after
them in all kinds of ways, and one good way to make them ineffective is
to cut off their money.
The Attorney General has reported that
here at the homeland -- in the homeland we've interrogated over 600
people that may have been involved with the bombings, as well as
spending a great deal of time analyzing information that could lead to
the disruption of any potential attack on America.
And then we discussed our legislative
priorities before the Congress goes home. One of those, of
course, is an economic stimulus package that must include tax relief
that has got a positive effect on the economy in the short run.
But there are two other aspects to a good,
strong economic stimulus package, one of which is trade promotion
authority. And the other is an energy bill. Now,
there was a good energy bill passed out of the House of
Representatives. And the reason it passed is because members
of both parties understand an energy bill is not only good for jobs,
it's important for our national security to have a good energy policy.
And I urge the Senate to listen to the
will of the senators and move a bill -- move a bill that will help
Americans find work and also make it easier for all of us around this
table to protect the security of the country. The less
dependent we are on foreign sources of crude oil, the more secure we
are at home.
We've spent a lot of time talking about
homeland security. An integral piece of homeland security is
energy independence. And I ask the Senate to respond to the
call to get an energy bill moving.
We have got a lot of work to do, and
everybody around this table understands that. We're a
patient group of people, we're a disciplined group of
people. But one thing we've got in mind as well is, we've
got the best interests of the American people in mind. And
I'm proud of the job everybody is doing here. I want to
thank you on behalf of America for your hard work.