For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 8, 2001
Mrs. Laura Bush Speaks at the National Press Club
Remarks by Mrs. Laura Bush At the National Press Club
November 8, 2001
As delivered.
Thank you very much for the introduction and for the invitation to
join you here at the National Press Club.
When I first considered your invitation, I thought I would talk
about early childhood education - a subject of great importance to me.
In particular I wanted to discuss a summit on early childhood
cognitive development we hosted this summer - in fact, that was the
topic of a briefing I was planning to give on Capitol Hill the morning
of September 11th.
That speech, of course, had to be postponed, but the importance of
education remains the same. In the wake of those events, it is
particularly important to pay attention to our children's needs - and
to reassure them as we continue to teach and guide them.
We are learning as well.
In two months, we have seen the worst and the best of human
nature. We have felt sadness and anger and fear, yet out of
those emotions have risen courage and hope.
President Bush said we are a nation awakened to danger - but we are
also a nation awakened to patriotism, and citizenship and
service. None of us could have imagined the evil that was
done to our country, yet we have learned that out of tragedy can come
great good.
It seems that every generation has its own - day of infamy- that
none would ever forget. For my parents' generation, that day was
December 7, 1941, when our nation was shocked by the early morning
attack on Pearl Harbor.
For my generation, the day was November 22, 1963 the day that
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on a street in downtown
Dallas.
I was a senior at Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas and
was sitting in a classroom when we learned the President had been
killed.
I remember feeling as if a blanket had been thrown over the school,
suffocating all the usual sounds of scraping chairs and classroom
chatter. People cried. The horror was so sudden and
unimaginable.
I went home for lunch and remember my parents' sadness and like
most American families, we spent the weekend watching television. I
remember it as a terrible blow, almost too much to bear; a sudden
reminder at a young age of how fragile life truly is.
Now we have experienced another one of those days in our national
life ? a day so horrifying that it will be forever seared in the hearts
and memories of all of us who witnessed it.
I was on my way to meet with Senator Ted Kennedy when a Secret
Service agent told me that a plane had just hit the World Trade
Center. We thought it was an accident at first, but as we
approached Capitol Hill, the Secret Service said another plane had hit
another tower.
We knew then that it was terrorism, and I remember thinking that
nothing would ever be the same.
Senator Kennedy and his big dog Splash were waiting for me. Words
can't describe the depth of feeling I had being with President
Kennedy's brother as another tragedy broke our nation's heart.
Senator Judd Gregg joined us, and I felt as if we were going
through the motions, pretending to be normal, when we all knew 'normal'
would never again be what we knew it to be on September 10th.
We walked out to express our prayers and concern for the people of
New York - and to tell the press that we were postponing our meeting on
education. Senator Gregg insisted that we were merely postponing --
that we would reschedule -- because we would not let the terrorists
prevail.
At that moment Larry McQuillan from U.S.A. Today, asked a question
that was on the minds of many Americans.
He asked, "What do you say to children?"
What I said then, and what I have said in nearly every interview
since, is that we need to reassure our children that they are safe in
their homes and schools. We need to reassure them that many
people love them and care for them, and that while there are some bad
people in the world, there are many more good people.
We can turn off the television and spend time reading to our
children. We can give them the gift of our time and attention.
As I have traveled the country, I have found that our children
still need to be reassured. When I visit classrooms,
children will sidle up to me and whisper, "What do you think about what
happened?"
I'll say "I?m sad," and they'll nod and say they are sad too.
Our children are working through the same feelings many of us are -
and they are doing so with remarkable resilience and wisdom.
We are reminded that little things - and little hands - can make a
difference. Last month, I spent a day teaching at Birney
Elementary School here in the District during Teach for America week. I
never expected to be handed 169 envelopes containing donations from the
students.
The money in those envelopes was intended for America's Fund for
Afghan Children. The students knew the President had asked children to
send a dollar to help pay for food and medicine for Afghan children.
The children at Birney Elementary might understand
hunger. Of the 565 students who attend that school, all but
27 children are eligible for the free or reduced-cost lunch program.
And yet they contributed $173 dollars and .64 cents to the Children's
Fund.
A couple of children in South Pasadena, California, organized a
lemonade and cookie sale to raise money for the children of
Afghanistan. Seven-year-old Libby and nine-year-old Cole dished out
lemonade for .25 cents, along with chocolate chip cookies, brownies and
Rice Krispie treats.
Passers-by responded eagerly and generously. One woman
left a $20 dollar bill and didn't want her change. Others
didn't take any lemonade ? they just stopped to drop off a few
dollars.
A few hours later, when the lemonade and treats were mostly gone,
Libby and Cole and their friends totaled up the proceeds ? they counted
three times to make sure they were right: They?d raised $85 dollars and
.75 cents.
They sent the money along with a letter to President Bush. They
each signed it, and Cole had the last word: From Cole Rainey, Libby
Rainey, and friends Sophie Mainsky and Laura Selig Your citizens.
These stories show the great citizenship and patriotism apparent
everywhere in our country.
We?ve also seen it in the singing of God Bless America at so many
events, and in the displays of flags on homes, store windows, car
antennas, and people's jacket lapels.
I'll never forget a moment during the Pentagon memorial service.
The choir was singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the next
thing you know we all were singing along. Then, suddenly, a
woman in a turquoise dress, way in the back of the huge crowd, stood up
and began swaying and waving her flag in the air.
Then, we were all on our feet, waving thousands of American flags,
united and not ashamed when our eyes filled with tears and our hearts
swelled with pride in our great country.
I knew there was a renewed spirit of love for America in the places
most directly affected by the attacks.
Yet exactly one week after the attack we were driving through the
streets of Chicago and on almost every house and nearly every building,
I saw a proud display of the American flag.
We are a kinder nation today. People seem to take more
time to ask about each other. I notice more people hugging
their friends and even reaching out to touch people they barely
know. We are opening our doors to our neighbors and our
hearts to strangers.
Just outside of Washington, women from a local Jewish congregation
volunteered to shop for Muslim women who are afraid to go out on their
own for fear of harassment. In New York families opened
their homes to their evacuated neighbors.
We stand patiently in lines in airports, glad that the slow pace
means careful inspection. We are saying thank you to the
national guardsmen who have left their families to stand duty at
airport checkpoints.
We seem to have a new appreciation for those who serve, whether as
police officers and firefighters, soldiers, teachers, or elected
officials. For the first time in three decades, a majority
of Americans said they trust the government to "do what is right."
The cynicism and distrust with which people viewed government is
replaced with a spirit of appreciation and respect for public servants,
and that is healthy for our democracy. Police officers and
firefighters have become America's celebrities.
We have witnessed the love and sacrifice of teachers, who fought
their own fears to keep children calm and safe. In
Manhattan, some teachers took students home with them until they could
find their parents. In others parts of the country, teachers had to
locate travelling parents.
As our teachers comforted our children, some Americans realized
that our teachers need comforting, too.
In New York, I met a teacher at Public School 41 who told me about
a parent who had given her a gift certificate for a massage as a way of
showing appreciation for her.
As a former public school teacher, I can say with certainty that
teachers in your media markets would love that idea to catch on.
We owe a special debt of gratitude to America's teachers. Their
jobs are already difficult; and their extra effort -- far above and
beyond what is asked of them - says much about their devotion to our
children.
Because schools already play an important role in our lives and
communities, we recognize and appreciate them more than ever.
In Florida, the Superintendent of Schools (Dan Galtz) said a
student told him, 'thank you for keeping school open. I know
everything will be OK because I?m coming to school today.'
People are enlisting to serve in our military. Katherine Dwyer grew
up in a big family in Bethesda, Maryland. She studied studio
art in college, and went to work at an art gallery. But
after September 11, after she and her Mom watched the unfolding horror
on television, she decided to enlist in the Army.
She said, "I thought to myself, now's the time. I've got to get
ready. Our country needs people like myself, people my age
willing to step up and serve, because it's needed right now."
And the attacks have caused all of us to reassess our priorities
and our values. Rather than fearing death, we are embracing
life -- life that is now seen as more precious, more meaningful than it
seemed before that tragic fall day.
A reporter at the White House told one of our staff members he had
raked leaves with his children over the weekend and it was so wonderful
to do something normal.
Robert Moore, a fiscal officer for the Ohio Department of
Development, says he and his wife Nancy are spending more time with
their boys. "It's made us more aware of how precious life
is," said Mr. Moore. "We're reassessing what we
consider important."
A third of all Americans say they are spending more time with their
families. Almost half are calling friends and family
more. College students are phoning home and looking forward
to coming home. A freshman at Boston College told one
reporter she couldn't wait for Thanksgiving, just to sit around the
table with her family.
In the aftermath of the attacks, forty percent of Americans say
they praying more, and a quarter say they are spending more time in
houses of worship.
The Sunday after the attacks, we attended church at Camp David. We
were so glad to see members of the congregation -- the 70 or so people,
mostly young couple with children, who attend regular services there.
On September 11, one of the rumors that was reported as a fact was
that Camp David had also been attacked. For over an hour I believed
that it had been hit, and I was so sad for the people there - people we
worship with almost every weekend.
The young chaplain is a graduate of the Perkins School of Theology
at my alma mater, Southern Methodist University, and he has a quiet and
strong and sincere faith.
He based his sermon that weekend on the Psalm outlined in the
lectionary for that September Sunday, Psalm 27: "Your face,
Lord, do I seek I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living."
And that of course, is what has happened. We are seeing goodness
throughout our land. As I witness the kindness that you report on
across the country, I get a sense of a new America.
Before September 11th, people seemed to spend a lot of time
complaining about what was wrong with their towns or their states or
their country.
I am no exception. When my daughters were in elementary school, you
won't believe this, but I (a former public school teacher!) actually
called my mother to complain about one of the girls? teachers.
I was upset because she'd sent them home with a note saying they
were disorganized, when I thought it was really the teacher who was
disorganized.
My mother thought for a moment and said, "Have you gone up to the
school to help the teacher?" And of course, I had to tell her no.
Let that be a lesson to you: You're never too old to get taken to
school by your mother.
We have been living in an age of self-absorption and
self-indulgence. But the amazing thing is, that in one day it all
stopped. And we started to rethink things. We began to think not about
what is wrong, but what is right with our towns and our states and this
country.
Larry McQuillan's question got me thinking about how I could be a
part of America's response to our children. Now I'd like to get you to
think about how you can use the medium of the news to harness this
great national energy.
There's nothing like the power of the media, and I was reminded of
that fact when one of my best friends called me the other day.
She used to tell me that she was glad she wasn't in my shoes
? but the other day she said that, for the first time, she
saw me on the news and felt an actual pang of jealousy. She realized -
and reminded me - that I had the great opportunity to reach a large
audience and help them. While she, in comparison, didn't know how she
could help.
Helping others does make us feel good.
We?ve raised record amounts of money and given enormous support to
national organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. We
heard accounts about how fast the news had to change in New York with
regard to requests for supplies. People responded to the news so
rapidly and so overwhelmingly that constant updates had to be issued to
stop or redirect the flood of responses.
You have a real opportunity to make sure that, as time passes,
Americans are still informed about ways they can exercise their
compassion.
You have a real opportunity to highlight the needs in your
communities so people know what they can specifically do to make life
better where they live.
Many things have changed since September 11. We are
sadder and less innocent, more determined and prepared, wiser and in
many ways better: more patriotic, more united, more compassionate.
And many important things haven't changed at all: our
faith, our love of family and friends - the freedoms and ideals that
this country stands for - the freedoms that we now must defend.
Through this experience, we are relearning our own values - and the
world is seeing the very foundation of America. In
Pennsylvania, an article quoted a four-year-old girl who could not
understand why terrorists would hate a whole nation of people they
don't even know.
Her innocent question, "Why don't we just tell them our names."
The people who died on September 11 all had names and lives and
people who loved them. We value each of those lives, and we
show it?for some that value shines through faith.
During the World Trade Center survivors' memorial service at Ground
Zero, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik shared a story with the mourners.
He said that a few hours earlier he'd received a phone call from a
woman who was going to give birth very soon. She said she wanted to
name her child after a WTC victim who didn't have a child.
Before she hung up, she made a promise to the Rabbi. She said, "I
promise that I will try to have more children because I know there are
so many more names."
That's one of the major differences between our country and the
people we fight against. We believe every person matters, that every
individual is valuable and has a right to life, and liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
If we were to set aside one day for each victim, to honor and
remember them, it would take us 13 to 14 years to complete our tribute.
Or, to put it another way, a child born on September 11th would be
entering high school by the time we were through with our days of
remembrance.
This nation was born in a spirit of optimism and
courage. That's the spirit that beckoned so many immigrants,
yearning for a fresh start, willing to take risks for the hope of a
better life for themselves and their families.
That spirit of optimism and courage still beckons people across the
world who want to come here, and that spirit of optimism and courage
must guide us now.
We are a different country than we were on September 10th - in ways
the terrorists could not have imagined or intended. We'll go back to
our routines as we always do, but we will do so with a stronger sense
of life and liberty.
Americans are willing to fight and die for our freedoms, but more
importantly, we are willing to live for them. We will move on with our
lives, but we will not forget the images and events -- the photos and
front pages -- of the past two months. They are etched in our minds
forever.
Some witnessed the moving images, others captured them?but we all
feel the power and the potential of this still-unfolding drama.
I have learned these things from my visits with people throughout
the heartland: We've all been watching the news. I've seen
people helping strangers; I've seen strangers becoming heroes; I've
seen this country at its best. Americans are proud and we care about
others. That's what I see in the news, and that's what I see in
America.
Thank you all for having me.
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