For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 4, 2002
President Calls for $48 Billion Increase in Defense Spending
Remarks by the President to the Service Personnel
Eglin Air Force Base
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
10:40 A.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you very
much. I appreciate your warm welcome. It is an
honor to be here with the men and women who wear our
uniform. (Applause.) It's an honor to be at
Eglin. (Applause.) And it's appropriate that I was delivered
to your door on an Air Force jet. (Applause.)
I not only want to thank all of you who wear our uniform, I want to
thank your families, as well. (Applause.) I
understand that military life makes a lot of demands on those who
serve, and I also understand the family's sacrifice. And,
for that, your nation is grateful. (Applause.) Every family
member here today can be certain that our nation's cause is right, and
our nation's cause is just. You can be sure of something
else -- in this war against terror, the forces of freedom will
prevail. (Applause.)
I always enjoy coming to states which have a great governor.
(Applause.) Enough
said. (Laughter.) It's clear that both of us were
listening to our mother. (Laughter.) My advice to
all you youngsters out there is, listen to your
mother. (Laughter and applause.) Right, Buddy?
I'm also honored to be here with Ched Bob. As you know,
I like nicknames. I never heard a general called Ched Bob
before. (Laughter.) But, General, thank you for your
leadership.
I also want to thank General Lyles and General Stogsdill, as well,
for their leadership for our country. I'm proud of the men
and women who wear the uniform, and I'm proud we've got some of the
finest -- finest -- Americans who are leading our brave troops,
including General Hester.
I also want to thank Congressman Miller. Congressman
Miller flew down with me today on Air Force One. He's a
young Congressman, he just got up there. But I can assure
you one thing -- when it comes to supporting the men and women in the
military, you've got a strong supporter in Jeff
Miller. (Applause.)
Not only am I pleased to be with so many from Eglin, I'm also
pleased to be from -- men and women and families from the headquarters
of the Special -- the Air Force Special Operations Command in
Hurlburt. (Applause.) The quiet
professionals. (Applause.) You don't sound so
quiet today, however. You perform with daring and
dedication. You've made an impression on the
enemy. You've given the terrorists around the world their
first glimpse at their fate. (Applause.)
The 16th Special Operations Wing has a motto: Any time,
anyplace. (Applause.) You spend every day training, testing
and preparing for any mission that may come. It makes me
feel good to be the Commander-in-Chief of people who train hard for any
mission that may come. You perform your missions with
success and with honor, and you've made America proud. (Applause.)
I understand that one young man has returned from the war zone in
time for the birth of twins. My congratulations to Staff
Sergeant Christopher Avery and
Erica. (Applause.) Staff Sergeant, you can take
it from the Commander-in-Chief and a father of twins, you're going to
be a busy man. (Laughter and applause.)
Our military has a new mission for the 21st century. It
came suddenly, but you were ready. The 919th Special
Operations Wing -- (applause) -- is part of a tremendous fighting force
that assembled across the world in a matter of weeks. You
destroyed Afghan terrorist training camps and freed a country from
brutal oppression. Our military not only proved themselves
on a battlefield, but our military were liberators, freeing women and
children, giving them the chance to breathe the fresh air of
freedom. For that, I'm so grateful and
proud. (Applause.)
When America was attacked, our men and women in uniform felt it in
a personal way. A reporter asked an Air Force pilot if he
had any direct connection to the victims of September
11th. The pilot replied, "I think we all do; they were
Americans." That's how we all felt. When you
strike one American, you strike all Americans, and you can expect to
hear from us. (Applause.)
The terrorists are beginning to realize they picked the wrong
enemy. (Applause.) As I like to put it, they must have been
watching too much daytime TV. (Laughter.) They
thought we were soft. They thought we would roll
over. My, oh, my, they haven't got us figured
out. But they're beginning to understand us. You
see, we're a patient and deliberate people. We're absolutely
resolved to find terrorists where they hide and to root them out one by
one. (Applause.)
Some people may grow weary, but not me. And not
you. History has called us into action, and we will not stop
until the threat of global terrorism has been
destroyed. (Applause.)
This message has been made clear to the enemy. It has
been made clear to the world. It has been made clear to
those who think they can harm America. And that message is
being delivered by the finest military ever assembled: the
United States military. (Applause.)
In a short period of time, we're making great
progress. It hasn't been all that long ago that I called the
military into action. I know it seems a long time for many
of the family members. But when history looks back, we
haven't been at this for very long, but we're making huge
progress. We've built a fabulous coalition of many nations
and every region of the world. They know that in this
conflict there is a choice to make: Either you're with us,
or your with the terrorists. Either you're with freedom and
justice, or you're on the side of tyranny and oppression. And the good
news is, civilized people everywhere are taking the side of freedom and
justice. (Applause.)
Our first objective in the first theater against the war against
terror has been achieved -- the Taliban are out of
business. (Applause.) They're gone and the people of
Afghanistan don't miss them one bit. A few months ago, some
warned that military action would cause an uprising in the
streets. Well, when we defeated that brutal regime, people
did take to the streets -- but they came out to celebrate; they came
out to express their joy; they came out to cheer the fact that their
oppressors had left and freedom had returned. (Applause.)
And we're working on our next objective. And that's to
run down al Qaeda and the rest of the terrorists, and maybe give them a
free trip to Guantanamo Bay. (Applause.) This
will take time. It's going to take a while. The
American people understand that and, for that, I'm grateful. And you
need to know, I'm a patient man. I don't have a set
calendar. All I know is we've got them on the
run. And we're after people who, on the one hand, sent kids
to suicide missions, and on the other hand, try to bury deep inside
some cave. But there's no cave deep
enough. There's no place they can hide long enough for the
long arm of American justice to find 'em and get
'em. (Applause.)
Afghanistan is only the first step, the beginning of a long
campaign to rid the world of terrorists. We're just
starting. In the caves they ran from, we found evidence of
more plans to attack us. And while we're on alert at home
and doing everything we can to protect innocent life in America, the
surest way to defend America, the surest way to make sure our children
grow up in a peaceful and free society, is to be relentless in our
pursuit of those who would harm America, those who hate freedom, and
bring them to justice. (Applause.)
We believe that they've trained thousands of killers, and they view
the entire world as a battlefield. And that's why we're not
going to quit. And that's why we're going to rally the nations of
freedom. And that's why we're going to protect the American
people.
Another objective is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from
threatening America or our friends and allies with chemical, biological
or nuclear weapons. We must be deliberate as a
nation. But time isn't on our side. Terrorist
states and terrorist allies are an axis of evil, seeking weapons of
mass destruction. But I've put them on
notice. The United States of America will not permit the
world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most
destructive weapons. (Applause.)
It is now up to them to change their behavior. It is now
up to them to join peaceful nations. But they're on
notice. They're on notice. And this cause, this
historic moment, this great opportunity to fight for freedom and to
promote the peace for the long-term requires a strong
military. And we must keep it strong with new investments in
equipment, and we must keep it strong by attracting and retaining the
best and the brightest in our country. (Applause.)
We're learning a lot about modern warfare in the first theater,
Afghanistan. We're learning about weapons and how to use
them better. It's proved that in this first phase that expensive
precision weapons not only defeat the enemy, but spare innocent
lives. And the budget I submit makes it clear we need more
of them. (Applause.)
We need to be agile and quick to move. We need to be
able to send our troops onto battlefields in places that many of us
never thought there would be a battlefield. We need to be
agile and mobile. And, therefore, we need to replace aging
aircraft, and get ready to be able to defend freedom with the best
equipment possible. Our men and women deserve the best
weapons, the best equipment, and the best training. And
therefore, I've asked Congress for a one-year increase of more than $48
billion for national defense, the largest increase in a
generation. (Applause.)
We need one other thing. As I said, we need to recruit
and retain the best. This budget I submitted has another
military pay raise for those who wear the
uniform. (Applause.)
We're unified in Washington on winning this war. One way
to express our unity is for Congress to set the military budget, the
defense of the United States, as the number one priority and fully fund
my request. (Applause.) The budget I submit recognizes the
vital role the military will play and recognizes we have only one
alternative, and that is victory. (Applause.)
One of the great honors I have is the opportunity to work with
people in our military, from the troops to the former pilot who serves
as the Secretary of Defense, Don Rumsfeld -- (applause) -- my
administration's matinee idol for the
seniors. (Laughter.) I've also appointed an Air
Force general as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And he
brings to the job great discipline and duty and service above
self. I'm proud of General Myers. (Applause.)
The Air Force has a great ethic, a family ethic. You
stick together, you take care of your own, and you bring out the best
in each other. (Applause.) And you know the stakes of this
cause. Our enemies want every person on Earth to live in
tyranny or live in fear. We seek a world that lives in peace
and freedom. And, you know what? There's no doubt
in my mind we're going to prevail. (Applause.)
In the months and years to come, our nation will be asking much of
the Air Force, and every branch of our military. You have my
confidence, because you've earned it. You earn it every day
in the difficulties you accept and the dangers you face. You're each
here to serve your country, and your country is
grateful. You're here because you believe in America, and
America believes in you. God bless. (Applause.)
END 11:00 A.M. CST
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