THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. At
ease. (Laughter.) I always love being introduced
by a matinee television idol. (Laughter and
applause.) Who would have thought it? (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RUMSFELD: Not my wife.
THE PRESIDENT: Only his
mother. (Laughter.) Thanks so much, Mr.
Secretary. He's doing a fabulous job, he really
is. And so are the men and women who work in this building,
and the men and women who wear the uniform. We're really
proud of you.
I'm honored to sign this bill because the nation owes the men and
women of the military our full measure of respect, and our full measure
of support. We owe you decent pay and a decent quality of
life. We owe you the best leadership and
training. We owe you the best equipment and
weaponry. We owe you, our servicemen and women, our best,
because we owe you our freedom.
This bill, which includes both this year's defense appropriations,
and emergency supplemental spending, keeps the commitment to our
military, and keeps the commitments of our country. It was
passed with bipartisan support in the Congress. It will be
implemented by this fine Secretary, and a fine Deputy Secretary in Paul
Wolfowitz.
As Commander-in-Chief, I'm really proud to sign this bill here in
the Pentagon. It shows that at an hour when freedom was
under attack, America is steady, and standing tall, in freedom's
defense. I, too, want to thank the members of the United
States Congress who are here, particularly Chairman Bill
Young. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
coming. (Applause.) Senator Dorgan, I appreciate
you being here, sir. Rodney, thank you for coming, and Jim
and George. I guess you're supposed to be formal with the
Senate, and informal with the House. But thank you all for
taking time to be here. It's a kind gesture for you to
come.
I also want to thank the members of the Joint Chiefs and the
leadership of our military who are on the stage with me
here. Dick Myers is doing a fabulous job. He is
steady, he is strong. He sets such an important signal
throughout our military that we mean business. We're a
no-nonsense group of people who have got one thing in mind, and that is
victory. (Applause.)
I remember talking about our plans with the Secretary and others in
my administration. And as we set our plans, there was no
question that our military was ready. The Secretary made
that clear, Dick Myers, made that clear, Hugh Shelton made that
clear. And since September the 11th, the skill, the daring
and the courage of our men and women in uniform is now clear to
all. It's clear to your fellow Americans, and it's clear to
those who try to hide in caves.
We have liberated a nation from oppression. And we've
saved many people from starvation. I'd like to remind my
fellow Americans there is nothing more joyous to my heart than to see
our military liberate women who have lived under the most oppressive
regime in the history of mankind. This cause is noble, and
this cause is just. And we will stay on this cause until we
have achieved our objective. You're delivering justice; not
revenge, but justice, to agents of terror. And you're making
this nation proud.
America recently has been reminded that in our quest to defend
freedom -- and really in our quest to save civilization -- there are
enormous sacrifices, and to no more greater sacrifice than loss of
life. And like the Secretary, I extend my prayers and
sympathies to the moms and dads and the wives and sons and daughters of
those who have lost their life.
But as I told the young lady the other day when I called her, whose
husband had died, I said, please tell your children that he died for a
just cause. Sacrifices are made willingly by
volunteers. And having traveled our nation a little bit, I
can assure you, you're in the midst of a grateful people.
In our global campaign against global terror, our military must
have every resource, every tool, every weapon, and every advantage you
need for the missions to come.
The bill I'm about to sign makes a down-payment on essential
commitment. We will give our forces everything they need to
defeat global terror. Overall, this year's defense bill
provides nearly $30 billion more than the amount enacted for the Fiscal
Year 2001. The emergency supplemental measure provides
another $3.5 billion on top of that.
Yet, even more important than these numbers are the priorities they
represent. First of all, the bill contains funding for pay
increases of up to 15 percent for service members, with an average
increase of 6.9 percent. The bill reduces out-of-pocket
housing costs from 15 percent to 11 percent, and puts us on a track
towards eliminating this burden altogether by the year
2005. In addition, the bill also fully funds the health care
of active duty members and their families, and provides $3.9 billion
for health care benefits for military retirees over 65, and their
families.
We can never pay our men and women in uniform on a scale that
matches the magnitude of their sacrifice. But this bill
reflects our respect for your selfless service. Today, more
than ever, we also owe those in uniform the resources they need to
maintain a very high state of readiness. Our enemies rely
upon surprise and deception. They used to reply upon the
fact that they thought we were soft. I don't think they
think that way anymore. (Applause.)
Our forces must be ready to deploy to any point on the globe on
short notice. This bill increases operation and maintenance
by over $8 billion. This nation must have, and will have,
ready forces that can bring victory to our country, and safety to our
people. The world's best soldiers, sailors, airmen and
marines also deserve the world's best weaponry. To ensure
that, our nation must invest in procurement accounts. This
defense bill contains about $61 billion for procurement.
This nation must give our military the weapons it needs to meet the
threats of our future. If the war against terror means that
we must find terror wherever it exists, and pull it out by its roots,
and bring people to justice, our military must have the means to
achieve the objective.
This bill is just the beginning to make sure that that
happens. Our nation must also look even farther into the
future, so that the next generations of weaponry take advantage of our
nation's decisive technological edge. That's why I'm pleased
to see that this year's defense bill contains almost $50 billion for
research and development, including nearly $8 billion for missile
defense.
My administration is committed to transforming our forces, with
innovative doctrine and strategy and weaponry. This will
allow us to revolutionize the battlefield of the future, and to keep
the peace by defining war on our terms. This is a great goal
and it's a great opportunity, one granted to few nations in
history. And with the leadership of the Secretary, we will
seize this opportunity.
And finally, I'm pleased that the emergency supplemental funding in
this bill is going to allow us to meet some of our urgent
priorities. In addition to the $3.5 billion to help
prosecute the war on terror, the bill contains $8.2 billion to help New
York, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania
recover from the attacks by the evil ones. It also devotes
an additional $8.4 billion to homeland security.
We're working hard to make sure that our homeland is
secure. But the best way to secure America's future is to
bring the terrorists to justice, and to say to those who think they can
hide them, you, too, are just as guilty as the murderers if you think
you can hide them, and provide them aid, and provide them
comfort. We will build the security of America by fighting
our enemies abroad, and protecting our folks here at
home. And we are committed, this administration, and the
Congress, is committed to these most important goals.
These are good bills that will help America in time of
need. And I appreciate the spirit on Capitol Hill that led
to its passage. I look forward to working with the Congress,
as we build our nation's strength and security. I look
forward to working for next year's budget, with the priorities of
winning this war, and defending our homeland. I'm confident
that the spirit that prevailed in late fall will spill over into this
year, as we continue to remember the great goals that face this
nation.
It is now my honor, in the heart -- the headquarters of the
greatest military in the world, to sign the Department of Defense and
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act. Thank you all for
your hospitality. Stay on course. Find the
enemy. (Applause.) God
bless. (Applause.)