THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be
seated. Nice to be here at the home of the mighty
Bulldogs. (Applause.) Whew, I'm glad I'm not on
the other team. I'm so honored to be here.
I was specially interested to learn this was Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s high school. (Applause.) And I want the
students to understand something about his life. It goes to
show that an individual can make a huge difference in the lives of our
fellow citizens. In his case, he made history. In
your case, it could be just loving somebody. The lesson of
Martin Luther King is a powerful lesson, and is part of my -- what I
want to talk about today.
But before I do so, I've got some introductions I want to make.
First, I am honored that your Governor is with us, Governor Roy Barnes,
I appreciate it. (Applause.) And the First
Lady. And like me, he married above
himself. (Laughter.) First Lady of Georgia, it's
good to see you. Thank you. (Applause.)
I appreciate members of the congressional delegation
coming. Oh, I know generally a Democrat is not supposed to
show up when a Republican shows up, and a Republican's not supposed to
show up when a Democrat shows up. But there is a new
attitude in America today. I'm a proud Republican. Cynthia
McKinney and John Lewis and Zell Miller are proud Democrats. Saxby's a
proud Republican. Cleland is a proud
Democrat. But, first and foremost, we're all proud
Americans. (Applause.)
I appreciate so very much members of the House and the Senate --
Statehouse and the Senate -- for coming over to say hello
today. I'm honored that your Mayor is
here. (Applause.) Thanks for coming.
I'm so pleased that a member of my Cabinet came. I
picked a good man when I picked the Secretary of
Education. I didn't pick somebody who dwelt on
theory. I picked on somebody who is
experienced. You know, you have a chance to -- got to choose
all kinds of people when you pick your Cabinet. I wanted somebody who
actually understood how public education worked because he had lived in
public education. This man ran the toughest, biggest,
orneriest school district in the state of Texas, the Houston
Independent School District, and he did a great job there, and he's
doing a great job as the Secretary of Education. (Applause.)
I want to thank your Superintendent of Schools here in Atlanta,
Dr. Beverly Hall. Thank you for coming,
Beverly. (Applause.)
One lesson I have learned not only as governor, but as President,
that a school really functions well if it's got a fine
principal. And you've got a fine
principal. (Applause.) I want to thank all the
teachers who are here. I'm honored to be in your
presence. (Applause.) I want to thank not only
the Teach for America teachers who are here -- (applause) -- I want to
thank all the teachers who are here. Yours is a noble,
important profession.
For those of you who have yet to graduate from high school, who are
wondering what life might hold for you, wondering what your career
might be, please give teaching a consideration. Please look
at teaching. There is no better way to leave a mark, a
positive mark on the life of America. (Applause.)
One of the things I like to do is herald kind of the quiet heroes
of our society. In this case, I want to talk about a social
entrepreneur, someone who had a dream and a vision and implemented
it. And that's the Founder and President of Teach For
America, Wendy Kopp. (Applause.) Now, for those
of you who don't -- she brought some of her family members here.
(Laughter.)
It is -- Wendy shows that with strength of purpose and setting
goals, and striving for a better tomorrow, it is possible to make a
huge difference. Out of an idea came the desire to convince
folks to teach in schools that are having trouble to get
teachers. And she had succeeded way beyond what people
thought a single person can do. There are 8,000 Teach For
America teachers and alumni around the country. I am proud
to stand up and talk about the best of America and Wendy
Kopp. Wendy, thank you for what you
do. (Applause.)
I am proud of a country that is unified and strong. You
know, I like to put it this way. The enemy must have been
watching too much daytime TV. They thought we were
weak. They thought we would roll over by one single
attack. My, my, were they mistaken. The enemy
thought that we were too materialistic, too self-absorbed, that we
would tire and weary. No, this United States is
united. We are strong. We are
determined. We are patient. We are resolved to
rout out terror wherever it exists to save the world for
freedom. (Applause.)
And it's important to do so. History has called us into
action. And we cannot weary. Oh, I know some are
-- some, the farther we get away from September the 11th, are going to
say, well, gosh, do we really need to go through
this. Listen, I want you all to know every morning I walk
into a fabulous office, the Oval Office, and I sit down in my desk, and
I read a report, a threat assessment about what the enemy wants to
do. There are still designs on America. The evil
ones can't stand a nation that is free. Evil people can't stand free
people. And so, they still want to hit us. My most
important job is to make sure that this nation is secure and safe.
We're doing everything we can at home to find out, to track down
anybody who would dare hurt innocent United States
citizens. And we're making pretty good
progress. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's major task
now, its most important job is to protect the
homeland. We've got thousands of agents, tracking down any
hint, any lead, making sure that America is safe.
I've got a Homeland Security Office, all designed to work to make
sure that a bioterrorist attack can be responded to; to make sure our
heroic police and firefighters have the tools necessary to respond, to
be active and first responders; to make sure we understand who's coming
into our country and who's leaving our country.
We're doing everything we can at home. But I want to
tell you all, as plainly as I can, the best homeland defense, the best
way to make sure America is secure and free, is to find the enemy where
it hides and bring them to
justice. (Applause.) And we're making good
progress, and I appreciate the resolve and patience of our
country. I appreciate the unity that stands behind the men
and women who wear our uniform.
I sent such brave, brave men and women into a tough
conflict. And I want to tell you, they haven't let us
down. I see some students with your uniforms
on. If you choose to go into the military, I want to thank
you, and let you know that your government will stand squarely behind
you. Whatever it takes to win the war on terror, we will pay
it. (Applause.)
I said to the people who killed thousands of Americans that were
coming after you, that we won't let your evil acts stand. I
also said that if you hide one of those people, if you feed one of
those people, you're just as guilty as those who attacked
America. And the Taliban has learned the lesson of that
doctrine. They no longer are in power, thank God, for women
and children in Afghanistan. Our nation has liberated -- we
not only served to bring justice -- not revenge, but justice -- we have
liberated women and children who lived under the most oppressive regime
-- one of the most repressive regimes in this history of
mankind. I am proud of this great
country. (Applause.)
When you graduate this year if you're a senior, you're the first --
yes, sir -- you're the first -- (laughter) -- you're the first senior
class that has graduated after America has been attacked on the
homeland. Think about that. That is
historic. And it's not over unless we pursue our mission.
And so, therefore, the mission is not just those who flew into the
building. These people, the al Qaeda people, trained
thousands of people in their camps before we started moving on
them. I say, thousands of ticking time bombs ready to go
off. And therefore, we must be relentless in our pursuit,
not just in Afghanistan, but wherever they hide.
That's why it's so important to have a vast coalition of nations,
friendly nations together. And it's why it's important for
our country to continue to lead, to make sure that part of the doctrine
that says either you're with us or you're against us is
enforced. It is so important that we fight for freedom so
young can grow up in a free society.
We're also in a pretty dangerous phase of the first theater in the
war against terror. Because, remember, we're chasing down
people who, on the one hand, send youngsters to their suicide deaths,
and on the other, try to burrow in the ground in caves as deep as they
can come. But they're about to learn this lesson from our
country: They can run and they can hide, but they can't run
and hide long enough, because this patient people are going to bring
them to justice, no matter how long it takes. (Applause.)
I also talked yesterday about countries that are developing weapons
of mass destruction that could be used to hurt ourselves or our allies,
or our friends. And we're just not going to
sit back and let them do it. They now
have been warned. They can change their behavior, and I hope
they do.
Some nations are already changing their behavior as a result of the
United States leading a strong coalition. Now they
know, and now they can change. But one thing
they've got to know is for certain: We will not let them use
their weapons of mass destruction to threaten the security of the
United States of America. They are on notice, and I expect
them to make the right decisions about being a peaceful nation, a
nation that doesn't want to harm our allies and friends, a nations that
respects common values, and a nation that adheres to
freedom. We have that obligation to future generations of
Americans, and it's an obligation I assure you that I will
keep. (Applause.)
Out of this evil, came some incredible good. No one
wished what happened on September the 11th happened. But out
of evil came great good in the country, and I want to share some of
that with you. The country has taken an assessment of what's
important in life. We've kind of stepped back, and said --
one thing we've said in Washington is, politics is important, but it's
not nearly as important as winning a war. Politics is
important -- listen, we're all politicians; anybody who's holding
office saying they're not a politician isn't telling the truth -- but
at least we can put something greater than self, at least we can figure
out how to do something more important than political
party. And we did so, by the way, with an education bill.
I know, you're not supposed to stand up if you're a Republican and
say something nice about Ted Kennedy. But I did, for a right
reason -- because we worked together, Republicans and Democrats, to
fashion a really good piece of legislation that empowers the governors
and local people to make the right decisions, but also says, we're not
going to stand for a system that simply shuffles children
through. We know who gets harmed in a system that gives up
on kids early. And we're not going to stand for it in
America, because every child can learn, and no child should be left
behind in this country. (Applause.)
There are ways to fight terror other than wearing a
uniform. A teacher fights terror every day by walking into a
classroom and teaching children how to read and write and add and
subtract. (Applause.) A church group can do it by
helping people in need. A synagogue can organize ways to
help elderly, for example. There's all kinds of ways to
fight evil.
People ask me, what can I do to help? What can I do to
help? Well, if you're dedicating your time to volunteer
work, you're already helping. And I ask America, young and old alike,
to dedicate at least two years of your life, 4,000 hours over your
lifetime, to service to your fellow man, to service to your nation, by
serving somebody else.
And it's happening. Listen, I know Atlanta, Georgia, and
I know the country. There are thousands of people dedicating
thousands of hours. And for that, I am
grateful. Just keep doing it. But some are
asking, what can I do to help? As a matter of fact, some in
our society have never been challenged to help. After all,
we've been living through an era that said, if it feels good, just go
ahead and do it. My dream is to change that culture to one
in which each of us are responsible for the decisions we make in
life. If you have a child, you're responsible for loving the
child. If you're in a community, you have a responsibility
of loving your fellow man, just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
No, we can change, use the evil to help usher in a period of
personal responsibility. And part of an era of personal
responsibility is to help somebody; is to help somebody in
need. And so I've set up a program called the USA
FreedomCorps. If you're looking for someplace to help,
here's a chance. If you want to participate in the good of
your country, here's your opportunity to do so, and all you've got to
do is pick up the phone, and dial
1-877-USA-CORPS. (Laughter.) That's all you've
got to do, and they will help you.
And we've got some ideas for you. If you're a senior
citizen, join Senior Corps, and help make your community more alert to
the potential of attack, or help develop an emergency response
team. If you're a retired doc, participate with your local
health systems to prepare your community and your neighborhood for what
we hope doesn't happen.
If you want to participate in USA Freedom Corps, it's
usafreedomcorps.gov, if you're one of these computer-literate type
people. (Laughter.) If you want to help and you feel like
you want to take your compassion overseas, we're going to expand the
Peace Corps mission. And we're going to send people into the
Islamic world for the first time, or one of the first times, to make
sure we spread America's compassion and hope.
And you need to help at home, as well. One way you can
help is to become a mentor. One way you can help is to find
a child who needs somebody older in their life who can put their arm
around them and say, "I love you." "There's hope for
you." "What can I do to help you succeed in
America?" (Applause.)
And another way you can help -- and I hope young Americans all
across the country think about joining Teach For America -- (applause)
-- it is a part of AmeriCorps. And our goal is to expand
AmeriCorps by 200,000 volunteers this
year. (Applause.) And I thank my friend, Steve
Goldsmith for helping shepherd this program forward. He's a
former mayor of Indianapolis. He understands how to rally
community-based programs for the greater good.
And so, my fellow Americans, if you care about America, put 4,000
hours of service toward America. It will help defeat what
the enemy wants.
You know, I tend to speak, I hope, plainly enough for people to
understand. I view this as good versus
evil. There is no middle ground as far as I'm
concerned. And therefore, in order to fight evil, what this
nation must do is to gather the collective hearts, the good decency of
our American people, and show the world we're not going to be
intimidated. We will not be intimidated
overseas. We will not change at home.
What we will do is take the momentum of millions of acts of decency
and convert that to the greater good. We've got a huge
challenge against us -- for us. A huge challenge, a huge
hill to climb in America, winning the war on terror and changing the
culture for the better. But guess what we're fixing to
do? We're fixing to show the world the strength of
America. We're fixing to overcome our
obstacles. We're going to lead the world toward a more
compassionate, more decent, more free tomorrow.
It is such an honor to be the President of such a great
nation. And we're a great nation because we're a great
people. May God bless you all, and may God bless
America. (Applause.)