THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. It's nice to be
back. (Applause.) I appreciate this West Virginia
welcome. Thank you for your hospitality, and thank you for
giving me a chance to give you a little update on how we're doing as a
nation.
But first, before I begin, I want to thank our friend, great friend
to West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito, for her
leadership. (Applause.) I've learned some things
about Shelley Moore. One, she's very bright. Two,
she doesn't always do what the President says, she's got a little bit
of an independent streak. But, three, she loves West
Virginia. She loves the state and she's working hard to do
what's right for the West Virginia people. And I'm proud to
call her friend. And I hope you're proud to call her
Congresswoman. (Applause.)
It's been a pleasure to work with some of the distinguished members
you have sent to Washington, D.C., and there's no more distinguished
than Senator Robert Byrd. (Applause.) He loves
his state, he loves the country. I have been spellbound by
his speeches. I've been interested to hear his points of
view. I look forward to working with him as Congress comes
back to Washington, D.C. after the Christmas break. West
Virginia has got a fine friend in Senator Byrd. And so does
America, and I'm proud to call him friend. (Applause.)
And I appreciate your Governor being here today, Governor
Wise. It's awfully kind of him to come and say hello to the
President. We're working closely together on a subject
that's dear to your heart and dear to my heart, and that's how to make
sure West Virginia, and all of America, remains safe, make sure we've
got a homeland that's secure. And the Governor is working
closely on this issue with us. (Applause.)
I appreciate so very much the former Governor, Cecil Underwood, and
my friend, for being here. (Applause.) I don't
know if they put Cecil into Ripley's or not -- (laughter) -- he was the
youngest governor ever and the oldest governor ever, and he's still
looking pretty spry to me. (Applause.)
I appreciate the Speaker and the Senate President, as well as the
minority leaders in the Senate and the House for
coming. Thank you all for being here to say
hello. And your Mayor showed up. Mr. Mayor,
thanks for coming, as well. It's an honor to be with my
fellow citizens from West Virginia on such a beautiful
day. And it's a day for me to tell you, folks, we're
winning. (Applause.)
Little did I realize the last time I was here that I would be
coming back to this very spot to thank the fine men and women of the
West Virginia Guard for helping us fight and win the war against
terror. (Applause.) For all who wear our uniform, I want to
thank -- say thank you on behalf of all Americans. For the
moms and dads and wives and husbands and sons and daughters of those
who wear the uniform -- some of whom had been deployed out of West
Virginia -- thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your
sacrifice. It is for a cause that is noble and a cause that
is just, and a cause that this great nation will
win. (Applause.)
I appreciate the fact that our nation is now on alert, that we're
ready; that if you see something odd happening in your neighborhood,
that you now know to go and notify the local police -- something
different is happening and we might ought to take a look at it.
Every morning I wake up like I did this morning, I get to the Oval
Office -- I'm an early morning man. Barney and Spot and I
head out to the South Lawn. (Laughter.) I head in
to the Oval Office, and the first thing I look at is potential threats
to the United States. Every morning, I'm reminded that my
most important job in this day and age is to make sure our government,
the federal government and all governments at all levels, do everything
we can to prevent a further attack on the good people of this
country. (Applause.)
I want to assure you, we're chasing down every lead, we're
following every hint. Our FBI is on full
alert. Their primary task now is to prevent another
attack. We're working with states -- as I mentioned the
Governor -- we're working with local officers to better share
information to disrupt and prevent. And I'm so proud of the
way our nation is responding. But the truth of the matter
is, the best way to secure the homeland of the United States is to find
the enemy where he hides and bring him to
justice. (Applause.)
I know I'm like many moms -- many dads, and Laura is like many moms
who yearn for peace. We want nothing more than our children
to be in a peaceful world. But I understand that in order to
defeat the evil ones, we must use the mighty U.S. military to put --
after we have put them on notice, to rout them out of their caves and
to bring them to justice. And that's exactly what our nation
will do. (Applause.)
Our military has performed brilliantly. I gave them a
task with clear objectives, and they're accomplishing those tasks and
those objectives. I said real clear to the world that --
real clearly to the world -- to old West Texan in me slipping out --
(laughter) -- clearly to the world, I said that either you are with us
or you are against us when it comes to finding
terror. (Applause.) I'm proud to report many,
many, many nations have signed up to be with us.
But I want to assure you all that if I tire, they will go to
sleep. And if we blink, so will they. And therefore, it's
so important for this nation to remain steadfast and resolved and
strong in our purpose to free the world of terror, so our children can
live peacefully. (Applause.)
I want to thank the people of West Virginia and the American people
for their patience. They understand that the task at hand
may take a while. They understand that this country is in
this for the long pull; that in order to secure freedom for generations
to come, that we, this generation, must be willing to sacrifice, must
be patient, must be determined, and must be resolved. We
have no other choice, as far as I'm concerned. It's either
allow terror to spread its wings and terrorize others, or to stand
tough. And this nation has made the decision to stand
tough. And I'm proud of her. (Applause.)
A fellow came the other day to the office, and said, well, are you
worried about Mr. bin Laden? I said, no, I'm not too worried
about him. He's the guy that needs to be
worried. (Laughter.) But I want to assure you,
the objective is not bin Laden. Oh, we'll get bin
Laden. (Applause.) There's only so many caves he can hide
in, if he's still hiding in caves. My attitude was, once we get him
running, it's just a matter of time before we bring him to justice.
But the mission is broader than just one person. The
mission is to make sure that terror, wherever it tries to settle in, is
routed out. The mission is to say to the governments that
think that we're not watching, we're watching; and if you try to harbor
a terrorist, feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as those who would
commit murder on innocent citizens. (Applause.)
So I want to reiterate what I said to those who are making the
sacrifice by wearing the uniform, and particularly their
families. I want to thank you. I grieve and mourn
and pray when we lose a life. And we will, when it comes to
the war on terror. But I told --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, sir!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Laughter.)
But I told the families that I've spoken to, by word and written
letter, that this nation is doing the right thing, that we're seeds in
history; that we refuse to be shaped by terror; that we will win the
war on terror; and the cause of sacrifice is noble and it is just.
What a great nation we have. (Applause.) A
nation that is willing to sacrifice for freedom and, at the same time,
a nation that is liberating women and children in Afghanistan from the
evil repression of the Taliban. (Applause.) A nation that
not only stands on principle, but a nation that is a nation of
liberators. I'm so proud of our military and the American
people, and the Afghan women and children thank you from the bottom of
our heart. (Applause.)
I know a lot of people are thinking overseas, and that's -- I can
understand that, but we've got a lot of work here to do at home,
too. The evil ones, when they hit us, affected our
economy. And I've got to tell you something -- I'm worried
about people being able to find jobs. My economic plan is
based upon this word: jobs. I want to ask that
question all around the country, what do we do to create
work? There's a lot of good people who want to work, and
we've got to help them find work. And so I'm asking
Congress, when they come back, to keep in mind one
word: jobs. (Applause.)
Now, we've got to help people. We've got to help the
good folks who have lost their job as a result of 9/11. And
that means extending unemployment benefits -- we can do
that. That means helping them with health care -- and we'll
do that. But the American people, they don't want just an
unemployment check, they want a permanent paycheck. And
that's what we've got to be figuring out how to
do. (Applause.)
I remember when I was campaigning in West Virginia, I said, if
you'd give me a chance to become your President, one thing I'll fight
for is to let the working people keep more of their own
money. And guess what? We got it
done. (Applause.) I mean, a real tax relief
package that understands that by giving people their own money,
somebody is going to spend more. And if somebody spends
more, somebody is going to produce what their spending -- spend money
to produce what their spending on, which means they've got to hire
people. Listen, tax relief equals jobs.
And thank goodness we did it when we
did. (Applause.) This economy was slowing down --
the evidence shows it -- in March of 2001. It was beginning
to kind of grind down. And tax relief happened at the right
time. There's some weird economics going on in
Washington. There are some saying they don't want the tax
relief plan to go through, which is basically a tax
increase. They want to raise taxes, in the midst of a
recession. I can't imagine what textbook they're
reading. (Laughter.) But raising taxes, or not allowing
money in people's pockets in the midst of the recession is the wrong
prescription. If you want to create jobs, let the American
people have more of their own money, so they can spend it. (Applause.)
We've got to sell more products around the world. I've
spent a lot of time talking to American farmers. I said,
look, our farmers are the best in the world. We're the best
at growing crops. So why don't we try to feed people who
don't have food? It seems like to me it makes sense for us
to open markets for U.S. products.
We're good at what we do. We've got the best workers in
the world. We're the most productive people on the face of the
Earth. We should not fear opening markets; we ought to
welcome opening markets, so we can sell more products. If we
sell more products overseas, it means more jobs for the working people
in America. (Applause.)
In order to grow our economy -- in order to grow our economy, we've
got to have an energy plan. Believe it or not, we're the
first administration in a long time that's developed a comprehensive
energy plan. On the one hand, it says we've got to do a good job of
conservation. We've got to promote technologies that will
enable people to have the same lifestyle without burning as much
energy. We've got to figure out ways for our cars to burn
less fuel, but be able to be comfortable and be able to let families
drive all throughout West Virginia. We've got to conserve
energy.
But conservation is only one half of the equation. In
order to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy, we've got
to find and produce more energy at home, including
coal. (Applause.)
I don't view the world as zero sum. I believe that we
can have coal production and enhanced technologies in order to make
sure the coal burns cleaner. I believe we can have
both. Now, I know there are some in Washington who don't
want to concede that. But they must not have much faith in
the technology that's coming on line. I don't believe we can
be independent as a nation unless we've got a constructive coal
policy.
And so I asked Congress, once and for all, to pass a comprehensive
energy plan, including exploring for natural gas in the state of Alaska
so we can be less dependent. (Applause.)
The other day -- some of the most interesting meetings are taking
place in Washington. The other day I was with Jimmy
Hoffa. A lot of people say, well, he's a Republican,
obviously he doesn't care about the union. That's not true
at all, for starters. I care about working people. I don't
care what label they put on them. I don't care if their a
Democrat, Republican, independent, union, non-union; I want to find
jobs for everybody. I'm the President of everybody, not just
a few. And so I sat down with Jimmy, and we talked about --
(applause) -- and I was with the head of the Carpenters, and Seafarers,
and construction people. And we're talking about jobs.
And he reminded me one reason he was so strong for the energy plan
was not only because it was good for U.S. security -- he cares about
U.S. security just like I care about U.S. security -- but because when
we explore for energy in America, it means jobs for working
people. This is just as much of a job program as it is an
energy -- as a national security program, folks. And it's
about time Congress skips all the politics and focuses on what's right
for the American people. (Applause.)
Congress is coming back -- Congress is coming back tomorrow to
Washington. And my call to Congress is not let the year 2002
become a bitter, political year. Now, I know a lot of them
are running for office, and that's fine. And I've got my
favorites. (Laughter.) Like Shelley
Moore. But anyway -- (applause.) But there are
some things that are more important than political party.
The national security is more important than political
party. And I appreciate the way Democrats and Republicans
have worked together. Energy is more important than
political party. Jobs are more important than political
party. And we showed what's possible in Washington on the
education bill. We passed a good piece of legislation that
says, public education is a cornerstone of job
security. It's a cornerstone of hope. And the federal
government is going to take an active role in promoting accountability,
to make sure nobody gets left behind in America. (Applause.)
I trust the local people of West Virginia to make the choices for
the children of West Virginia. So we're going to pass power
out of Washington, so the schools are run locally. But there
are some major initiatives inherent in that bill. One of
them is making sure every child reads. I mean every child.
Not just a few; not just only one kind of child -- every single
child. If we want to have an America that is hopeful and
prosperous, if we want to have a job-oriented country, we'd better make
sure our schools teach every child how to read. And if they
don't, it's time for us to start blowing the whistle on failure, and
changing things early, before it's too late. (Applause.)
So there I was, a couple of weeks ago, traveling the country,
saying, you know, Ted Kennedy is a pretty good fellow. I
know that sends a lot of shock waves throughout American political
scene. (Laughter.) It certainly shocked
him. (Laughter.) We worked together on the
education bill. Instead of saying, well, I can't talk to you because
you're of this party, and you can't talk to me because I'm that party,
we said, why don't we do what's right for America when it comes to our
children? Why don't we set aside all the
bickering? It's time for us to understand in Washington that
America is more important than our political parties, and come together
and do what's right for the American people. (Applause.)
We are a strong, strong nation, and I am so proud to be the
President of such an incredible land. You know, the enemy
when they hit us on 9/11, really didn't understand
America. They thought we were soft. I guess they
were watching too much TV. (Laughter.) They
didn't understand our character or our resolve. They didn't understand
that if you anger a mighty nation, that we will rise up with one voice
and bring justice. We're a nation not of revenge, but a
nation of justice. We're a nation that loves our
freedom. We're a nation -- a nation based upon some
fundamental values and principles.
You know, after 9/11, a lot of mothers and dads sat down at their
dinner tables and reassessed their value systems. They said,
we now understand our most important job is to love our
children. We may be working 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but
loving your children is forever. There's a lot of mothers and dads --
(applause) -- there's a lot of moms and dads saying, "I love
you," on a daily basis, and that's good. Out of evil can and
has come good.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: How's Laura --
THE PRESIDENT: She's doing great. Thank you
for mentioning her name. (Laughter.) Laura is doing
great. I got to tell you, what a fabulous, fabulous wife and
First Lady she is. (Applause.) It's clear I
married above myself. (Laughter.)
But I want you all to know that many have asked, "What can I do to
help America?" And they're still asking that
question. Well, the best way to fight evil is with
good. The best way to let the enemy know here at home that
they have not affected us is for parents to love their children more;
is for people in communities all across West Virginia to help a
neighbor at need. If you've got a shut-in across the street from you
and want to be a soldier in the war against terror, walk across the
street on a daily basis and say, can I help you. (Applause.)
If your church group or synagogue or mosque knows somebody who's
lonely, why don't you help set up a mentoring program so the child
knows somebody in America loves him or her. If you want to
be a soldier in the war against terror, love a neighbor just like you'd
like to be loved yourself.
America is defined not by our government. America is
defined by millions of acts of kindness that take place every single
day all across America, because this nation is a nation of such strong
values, of such strong faith, that nobody, no evil one will ever be
able to diminish the good inherent in the soul and character of the
American people.
It is my honor to be your President and to be the President of such
a fabulous land. Thank you for having me
come. May God bless. God bless
America. Thank you all. (Applause.)