President Bush Focuses on Seaport and Cargo Security in South Carolina
Remarks by the President on Seaport and Cargo Security
Union Pier Terminal
Charleston, South Carolina
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you, all. I am
glad to be back in the great state of South Carolina. (Applause.) I
appreciate you all coming out. I'm so honored to have been invited to
one of America's great cities, Charleston, South Carolina. (Applause.)
This is one of the busiest container ports in our country. It's an
important hub of commerce. And we will work to make sure that not only
is the port strong for economic reasons, we will make sure that the
port defends the people, is ready to defend against the threats of a
new era; that this port is secure and safe -- for not only the people
of South Carolina, but for the people of the great United States of
America. (Applause.)
I appreciate my friend, Tom Ridge, for becoming the first Secretary
of the Department of Homeland Security. He's got a big job, and he's
doing it well. (Applause.)
I want to thank Governor Mark Sanford for greeting me at the
airport and for driving with me to the Port of Charleston. Mark is
doing a great job for the people of South Carolina. (Applause.) I
know that the Lieutenant Governor is with us today, Lieutenant
Governor Andre Bauer. I appreciate you coming, Andre.
I flew down on Air Force One with some of the members of the mighty
South Carolina congressional delegation, starting with Senator Lindsey
Graham. (Applause.) He was telling me what to do during the entire
flight. (Laughter.) I appreciate so very much Congressman Jim DeMint,
Congressman Joe Wilson, Congressman Gresham Barrett, and the
Congressman from this district, Henry Brown, for joining us, as well.
(Applause.) These are good, honorable citizens; they're working hard in
Washington, D.C. on behalf of the people of South Carolina. I'm proud
to call them friend, I'm proud to work with them for the good of the
country.
I appreciate the Mayor, Joe Riley, being here today. Mr. Mayor,
thank you for coming. You're the Mayor of a great city. (Applause.)
Last time I saw the Mayor he said, need I remind you that your mother
was educated in this great city. (Laughter.) No, you didn't need to
remind me, Mr. Mayor -- she reminds me all the time. (Laughter.)
I appreciate my friend, Speaker David Wilkins, who has joined us.
All the members of the Statehouse who are here, thanks for coming,
state and local officials.
I want to thank the members of the -- oh, of course, my friend, the
Adjutant General, Stan Spears, is with us today. General, it's good to
see you again. I appreciate Commander Gary Merrick, Captain Jim
Tunstall of the mighty Coast Guard. I appreciate their service here
and I want to thank the members of the Coast Guard who are with us.
(Applause.) I'm proud of the men and women of our Coast Guard, who are
always ready, always ready to protect the American people.
I want to thank the members of the Air Force 437th Airlift Wing who
are with us today. (Applause.) I appreciate the members of the United
States Navy who are with us today. (Applause.) I thank the cadets
from the Citadel who have joined us today. (Applause.) I want to
thank the employees of the Department of Homeland Security.
(Applause.) Thank you for your work. Thank you for your dedication.
Thank you for what you're doing to make this part of the world as safe
and secure as you can.
I want to thank South Carolina's state and local first responders
who are with us, the police and the fire fighters and the emergency
squad personnel. (Applause.)
But most of all, thank you for coming. I've got some things I want
to talk about. (Laughter.) This country is a strong country, and
we're rising to meet great challenges.
The first great challenge is to make sure people can find work.
The first great challenge of this country is to have a pro-growth
environment so people can find a job. Our economy is growing, it's
getting better. But I want to remind you of where we have come from.
People say, President Bush is optimistic. You bet I'm optimistic. I
know where we have been and I know where we're going.
We have -- this country went through a recession. And as we were
coming out of the recession, we got attacked. And make no mistake
about it, that attack hurt our country's economy. It also -- you'll
hear me talk about how it affected my view of national security, as
well. It hurt.
And as we began to recover from that, we discovered that some of
our fellow citizens forgot what it meant to be a responsible citizen.
In other words, they didn't tell the truth. They didn't tell the truth
to their employees, and they didn't tell the truth to their
shareholders. And that affected the confidence of our economy. By the
way, we passed laws to hold those corporate criminals to account. They
will understand now that there is a consequence for not telling the
truth. (Applause.)
And then, of course, there were the uncertainties of war. That
affected the economy. Yet we're still strong, in spite of the
hurdles. And one reason we're strong is because we acted in
Washington, D.C. We passed tax relief. You see, we understand that
when somebody has got more money in their pocket, they're more likely
to demand a good or a service. And when they demand that good or a
service, somebody is more likely to produce the good or a service. And
when somebody produces that good or a service, someone is more likely
to be able to find work. The tax relief we passed, the willingness to
have -- people have more money in their pocket to spend, to save, or
invest, is helping this economy recover from tough times. (Applause.)
We also understand that most new jobs are created by small
businesses. Most new jobs in the American economy are created by the
entrepreneurs and small business owners of America. And so the tax
relief we passed not only helped individuals and helped families raise
children, but it was also directed at the small business sector of our
economy. We must never forget the vital role that small businesses
play in the United States economy.
Things are looking good across the country. New home construction
in 2003 was the highest in 25 years. Home ownership rates are the
highest ever. And for the first time, most minority households own
their own homes. We're closing the housing gap in America.
(Applause.)
Manufacturing activity is increasing, inflation is low, interest
rates are low, exports are growing, productivity is high, jobs are on
the rise. The tax relief we passed has made a difference. (Applause.)
One of the things I know about your great state -- I've spent some
quality time in South Carolina in the past -- one of the things I know
about your great state is this is a state full of decent, hard working,
honorable people. You've got a great work force in the state of South
Carolina. Many foreign companies and companies from other states move
here because South Carolina workers are dependable, good people.
Yet, the state has got economic challenges. Even though the
unemployment rate is down, it's still too high. Many factory workers
in textile and apparel have faced layoffs. But there are new jobs
being created, and the challenge at all levels of government is to make
sure that people are trained for jobs which actually exist.
I laid out what's called the Jobs for the 21st Century program,
which says to states and local communities, we want to help you, we
want to help you make sure the hard working people who are looking for
work have got the skills necessary to take advantage of a changing
economy. The numbers aren't as good as they can be, but they will be
with focused efforts; they will be so long as Washington promotes a
pro-entrepreneur, pro-growth agenda; they will be if the Congress makes
sure the tax cuts we passed are permanent. (Applause.)
I'm optimistic about our economy's future because the numbers look
good. But that's not the true reason I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic
because I understand the entrepreneurial spirit of America. I'm
optimistic because I know the type of worker we have in this country.
I'm optimistic because I trust the American people. (Applause.)
The second great challenge is to fight and win the war on terror.
(Applause.) After we were attacked in 2001, I said time would pass and
people would assume that the threats to our country had gone away.
That's false comfort. The terrorists continue to plot against us.
They still want to harm us. This nation will not tire, we will not
rest until this threat to civilization is removed. (Applause.)
Part of doing our duty in the war on terror is to protect the
homeland. That's part of our solemn responsibility. And we are taking
unprecedented steps to protect the homeland. In the 2005 budget, as
the Secretary mentioned, we proposed increases in homeland security
spending. And some of those increases are measures to protect our
seaports. And that's why I've come to this vital seaport, to remind
people -- to remind the American people, as they pay attention to the
debates in the halls of Congress, that we have a solemn duty to protect
our homeland, including the seaports of America.
Our National Targeting Center in Northern Virginia, where I'll be
going tomorrow with the Secretary, is analyzing cargo manifest
information, and focusing front-line inspection on high-risk
shipments. We're looking at things differently now in America. We're
adjusting our strategies to better protect the American people.
We've got a Container Security Initiative, which means we're
posting officers at foreign ports to identify and inspect high-risk
shipments before they're loaded and shipped to America. We've extended
the reach-out to make sure America is more secure. We're doing things
more wise in order to protect our country. We're not waiting for ships
and planes to arrive; we've got what we call a Proliferation Security
Initiative -- fancy words which means America is working with other
governments to track and stop the shipments of dangerous weapons and
dangerous cargo. (Applause.) We're determined to keep lethal weapons
and materials out of the hands of our enemies and away from our
shores.
We have a duty to protect the American people, a solemn duty. And
there's a lot of people in this crowd who have heard that duty, and I
appreciate your service. I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice on
behalf of the people. (Applause.)
Another vital tool in the homeland security is for Congress to pass
laws that enable us to do our job. I'm referring to the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act gives federal law enforcement the tools they need to
seize terrorists' assets and disrupt their cells. (Applause.) It
removes -- the Patriot Act removed legal barriers that prevented the
FBI and the CIA from sharing information, information that is vitally
needed to uncover terrorist plots before they are carried out in
America. Imagine a system that would not allow people to collect
information to share information. It makes it awfully hard to protect
the homeland if the FBI and the CIA can't share data in order to
protect us. The Patriot Act made that possible.
The Patriot Act imposes tougher penalties on terrorists and their
supporters. We want to send a clear message to people, that there will
be a consequence. For years we've used similar provisions, provisions
that are now in the act, to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers.
What's in the Patriot Act today is nothing new; we've been using these
provisions in the past. If the methods are good enough for hunting
criminals, they're even more important for hunting terrorists. The
Congress needs to extend the Patriot Act. (Applause.)
We'll do everything in our power to defend the homeland. Yet, we
understand this, that the best way to defend the homeland is to stay on
the offensive. The best way to protect America is to find the killers
and bring them to justice before they ever harm another American -- and
that's exactly what this administration will continue to do.
(Applause.)
There are thousands of our troops, and troops of our friends, on an
international manhunt. We're running down al Qaeda, we're finding them
where they hide. For our own security, we're bringing them to
justice. Nearly two-thirds of the al Qaeda leaders have been captured
or killed. And we're chasing the rest of them. There is no hole deep
enough to hide from America. (Applause.)
Part of this new war, this different kind of war is to confront
regimes that harbor terrorists, that support terrorists, that could
supply them with weapons of mass murder. This is an essential part of
the war on terror. When America speaks, we better mean what we say.
And I said right after September the 11th, if you harbor a terrorist,
if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists, and
the Taliban found out exactly what we meant. (Applause.)
It wasn't all that long ago that Afghanistan was a haven for
terrorists. This is where many terrorists learned to kill. There were
training camps, places for them to hide. Thanks to the United States
and our friends, thanks to the bravery of many of our fellow citizens,
Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror. Afghanistan is a free
country. (Applause.)
America also confronted a gathering threat in Iraq. The
dictatorship of Saddam Hussein was one of the most brutal, corrupt, and
dangerous regimes in the world. For years, the dictator funded
terrorists and gave reward money for suicide bombings. For years, he
threatened and he invaded his neighbors. For years, he murdered
innocent Iraqis by the hundreds of thousands. For years, he made a
mockery of United Nations' demands that he account for his weapons.
For years, Saddam Hussein did all these things. But he won't be doing
any of them this year. (Applause.) Instead, he's sitting in a prison
cell. (Applause.) And he will be sitting in a courtroom to answer for
his crimes. (Applause.)
The liberation of Iraq was an act of justice, delivering an
oppressed people from an evil regime. The liberation of Iraq removed a
source of violence and instability from the Middle East. And the
liberation of Iraq removed an enemy of this country and made America
more secure. (Applause.)
America and our friends have shown the world that we are serious
about removing the threats of weapons of mass destruction. And the
facts are becoming clearer. In Iraq, our survey group is on the
ground, looking for the truth. We will compare what the intelligence
indicated before the war with what we have learned afterwards. As the
chief weapons inspector said, we have not yet found the stockpiles of
weapons that we thought were there. Yet, the Survey Group has
uncovered some of what the dictator was up to.
We know Saddam Hussein had the capability to produce weapons of
mass destruction. He had the scientists and technology in place to
make those weapons. We know he had the necessary infrastructure to
produce weapons of mass destruction because we found the labs and dual
use facilities that could be used to produce chemical and biological
weapons. We know he was developing the delivery systems, ballistic
missiles that the United Nations had prohibited. We know Saddam
Hussein had the intent to arm his regime with weapons of mass
destruction, because he hid all those activities from the world until
the last day of his regime.
And Saddam Hussein had something else -- he had a record of using
weapons of mass destruction against his enemies and against innocent
Iraqi citizens. Knowing what I knew then, and knowing what I know
today, America did the right thing in Iraq. (Applause.)
We had a choice: either take the word of a madman, or take action
to defend the American people. Faced with that choice, I will defend
America every time. (Applause.) September the 11th, 2001 was a lesson
for America, a lesson I will never forget, and a lesson this nation
must never forget. We cannot wait to confront the threats of the
world, the threats of terror networks and terror states, until those
threats arrive in our own cities. I made a pledge to this country; I
will not stand by and hope for the best while dangers gather. I will
not take risks with the lives and security of the American people. I
will protect and defend this country by taking the fight to the enemy.
(Applause.)
When you're the Commander-in-Chief, you have to be willing to make
the tough calls and to see your decisions through. America is safer
when our commitments are clear, our word is good, and our will is
strong. And that is the only way I know how to lead.
(Applause.)
If some politicians in Washington had their way, Saddam Hussein
would still be in power. All of the Security Council resolutions and
condemnations would still be issued and still be ignored, scraps of
paper amounting to nothing. Other regimes and terror networks, had we
not acted, would have concluded that America backs down when things get
tough. Saddam would still have his weapons capabilities, and life
would sure be different for the Iraqi people. The secret police would
still be making arrests in the middle of the night. Prisons and
torture chambers would still be filled with victims. More innocent
Iraqis would have been sent to mass graves. Because we acted, Iraq's
nightmare is over. (Applause.) Their country, our country and the
entire world are better off because the regime of Saddam Hussein is
gone, and gone forever. (Applause.)
Because of American leadership, the world is changing for the
better. Other dictators have seen and noted our resolve. Colonel
Ghadafi in Libya got the message, and is now voluntarily disclosing and
eliminating his weapons of mass destruction programs. (Applause.)
These are historic times, times of change. In Afghanistan and
Iraq, more than 50 million people once lived under tyranny. And now
they live in free societies, societies that are moving toward
democracy; societies that will set an example for all of the Middle
East. And that's important. That's important for our own security.
Free societies do not attack their neighbors. Free societies do not
develop weapons of mass terror. Freedom and peace go hand-in-hand.
(Applause.)
These are great and hopeful events. And they came about because
America and our allies acted bravely in the cause of freedom. We know
there are challenges ahead. We know that freedom still has enemies in
Iraq and Afghanistan -- surviving Baathists, the Taliban, suicide
bombers and foreign terrorists. All these enemies have one goal: They
want to stop the advance of freedom and to shake the will of the United
States of America. But they don't understand us. They don't
understand the nature of the American people. We will never be
intimidated by thugs or assassins. (Applause.) The killers will fail,
and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan will live in freedom.
(Applause.)
And that's important to us in America, because we understand
freedom is not America's gift to the world; we understand freedom is
the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
(Applause.)
South Carolina is a state that is really proud of the people who
wear the uniform. Over 5,000 reservists and National Guardsmen are
currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and Kosovo and for the
defense of the homeland. Hundreds of officers from the Citadel are
serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terror.
Like everyone who serves in uniform today, these fine citizens of your
state are protecting this nation from danger, and they're making us
proud. (Applause.)
I made a commitment to the men and women of our military: America
is asking a lot of you, and you deserve a lot in return. You deserve
our praise and our thanks, and we will give you the resources you need
to fight and win the war on terror. (Applause.)
So we depend on our military; our people in uniform depend on their
families. These are challenging times for military families. Some of
them have experienced great loss. We ask for God's blessings. We ask
God to give them strength in their time of grief. Our nation will
never take their sacrifice for granted. All of us are grateful to the
families of the men and women who wear the uniform of the United
States. (Applause.)
By the unselfish dedication of Americans in uniform, people in our
own country and in lands far away can live in freedom, and know that --
the peace that freedom brings. America has been given great
responsibilities, and those responsibilities have come to the right
country. By our actions we have shown what kind of nation we are --
good and just and generous people. We don't shrink from any
challenge. We're rising to the call of history. Now and in the
future, this great land will lead the cause of freedom and peace.
May God bless you all. (Applause.) Thank you for coming. Thank
you all.