For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 14, 2001
Remarks by the President in Roundtable Discussion with Employers of National Guard and Reservists
West Virginia National Guard Headquarters Charleston, West Virginia
10:35 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary and I
are thankful you all are here; very thankful that the good Senator from
this great state has traveled with us. It's an honor to be
in his presence. He is an eloquent spokesman on what's right
about America, and a pretty darn good spokesman about what's needed in
West Virginia, I might add. (Laughter.)
I appreciate the newly elected Congresswoman
as well, Shelley Moore, for being here. I want to thank the
other members of the delegation.
I'm so pleased to come and talk about the
Guard and Reservists. I used to be in the Guard, and one of
the best things about being the governor, Governor, is to be the
Commander in Chief of the Guard in Texas, and in your case, West
Virginia. It's an honor. And I know you're going
to take it and do a good job. You've got a pretty darn good
start with a General leading the troops here in West Virginia.
I want you to know, Colonel Raney, I would
have come back whether I won or
lost. (Laughter.) I fell in love with West
Virginia during my time here. But now is not the time for
politics, this is a visit about public policy, and that's the defense
of our nation. I'm going to give a more formal speech later
on, but the purpose of this visit is to listen some, but also to assure
you.
I understand a couple things that are
important; one, the role of the Guard and Reservists, not only abroad
is important, but as importantly, at home. Part of our job
is to assess real threats to the nation and address those threats with
corresponding defense policy. I'm worried that we are trying
to be all things to all people around the world, and therefore,
creating the tension that you accurately described. It's
not only a tension for employer to employee, it's tensions, oftentimes,
between husband and wife and over-deployments, constant deployments
really create a severe issue for morale all throughout the military.
And we're going to address that by starting
with redefining the mission, or clarifying the mission of the United
States military. And that's this -- to be trained and
prepared to fight and win war, and therefore, prevent war from
happening in the first place.
Our administration will keep our commitments,
and we've got a lot of commitments to keep. There will be no
precipitous withdrawal from the commitments we inherited, but as we go
forward we will be careful about troop deployment, judiciously use our
troops. We understand that over-deployments not only affect
those on active duty, but also affect those in the Reserves and Guard.
And I appreciate you bringing that up so very
much. I also appreciate very much the opportunity to
highlight the patriotic role not only the Guardsmen and Reservists
play, but the patriotic role that the employer plays in
America. It's a two-way street, and our nation needs to be
grateful for those who understand the bottom line is more than just
profit and loss; the bottom line is also service to the country.
There's all kinds of ways employers can do
that. They can give generously of health care; they can give
generously of contributions and dollars to help in the communities in
which they live. But employers also give incredibly
generously when it comes to supporting the Guards and Reservists --
Guardsmen and Reservists -- who are now fulfilling much of the mission
that is now taking place overseas.
It's a huge honor to be the Commander in
Chief. I take the responsibility very
seriously. We're going to have a foreign policy that's
strong and consistent and clear, with a military that is focused and
prepared to keep the peace. And the Guardsmen and Reservists
will play a major role.
Now, Colonel Raney, I'm told that there are
some other folks who may want to say something, in which case I'm
prepared to listen -- or answer questions if you have
any. If I don't know it, the Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld
will. (Laughter.)
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: I think it's
important for the nation to understand the critical role the Guard and
Reservists play in today's mix. And this mission -- or this
trip today is to clarify the mission, to not only say thanks to the
folks of West Virginia, but hopefully to get people around the country
paying attention to reality. And reality is the Guard and
Reservists carry quite a bit of the load overseas, and also serve --
set up some of these good employers as examples for others to look at
and to follow.
So, thank you, Governor. Good luck
on your speech tonight. You'll do great.
* * * * *
Q Mr. President, my
name is John Finlayson, and I've been in the military for 28
years. One of the things I'm most concerned about for the
future is replenishment of our military as people
retire. And where the employer is so important there, I
think -- and I've had a wonderful employer support me -- is encouraging
people to take advantage of the military opportunities that are
present. I work in a job in the military that's very
complementary at the bank as well in diversity initiatives and trying
to make sure we are speaking to the right audiences and letting people
know what's available. So I guess my message today is, as
much as we can speak out to let everyone know the opportunities, and
then be encouraged by their employers is what we really need for the
future if we're going to be a viable force as we go forward.
THE PRESIDENT: John, I appreciate
that. The good news is in your state is you've got more
folks applying for jobs than exist in the Guard and
Reserve. So, evidently, word of mouth advertising is pretty
darn effective.
Q Our General helps us
with that. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: We've got an overall
issue of recruitment and retention throughout all the
military. The Secretary and I will address
that. It starts with better pay, but also requires our
nation to have a focused mission. So it's clear about what
the mission of the military is.
And I keep saying this over and over again,
and we'll work with our allies to help them understand that our nation
is a nation of peacemakers' we'll help make the peace. But
we're going to be reluctant to put troops on the ground to keep people
apart, warring parties apart. It's a concern of me and the
Secretary and others. And we will work with our allies to
make sure they understand what our position is before we take any
action.
* * * * *
Q The great demands for
energy we see in the United States now -- you see what's happening out
West -- and you do agree that we need a stronger military and not only
retention of the National Guard and Reservists, and since we're so
dependent on Middle East, we have no other choice but to be their
defender and keep that oil supply coming this way.
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate you
saying that. It reminded me of what Senator Byrd told me the
other day. I can't quite put it as eloquently as he did, but
he reminded me that we need a national energy policy of which coal
needs to be an integral part. (Applause.)
Q We are importing 60
percent of our oil daily --
THE PRESIDENT: Which is a national
security concern.
Q -- and about 12
million barrels a day.
THE PRESIDENT: It is up to all of
us to remind folks that we can safely mine coal and we can cleanly burn
it with the right technology. As a matter of fact, the
Senator and I Senator Stevens were not only talking about the use of
technology at home, clean coal technologies here at home, but also
being able to have clean coal technology as part of an export policy,
so that nations that have not developed like we have will be able to
utilize the technologies that have been developed, much of which have
been developed right here in the state of West Virginia.
The energy situation in the country is very
serious. Demand is greater than supply. And we
can affect demand, and will. We'll work on conservation
measures. But we also have got to understand that we need to
work on the supply side, Senator, and coal is in abundant supply here
in America.
And my job and the job of others will be to
convince many in the country who don't believe we can have a clean air
policy and burn coal at the same time. I believe we
can. And many of the experts know we can. And we've got to
do it, we've got to sell the country on that.
In the meantime, we've also got to make sure
that we're less dependent on foreign sources of crude
oil. The lack of an energy policy and national security
concerns go hand-in-hand. And I'm very aware of that,
sir. Thank you.
* * * * *
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