President Convenes Homeland Security Advisory Council
Remarks by the President at Meeting of Homeland Security Advisory Council
The Indian Treaty Room
10:44 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all very much for taking on this
assignment. Joe, thank you for your being chairman. And, Bill
Webster, we've got a lot of talented folks around this table. And I
want to thank you for agreeing to help our nation.
We're under attack; just the way it is. The more we love freedom,
the more we espouse values that are decent and honorable, the more we
welcome religion in our society, open political discourse, the more
this enemy is going to try to hit us. And we've got two course of
action. One is to run them down, wherever they try to hide, and bring
them to justice. That's precisely what we're going to do.
These people are the kind of people that -- they try to find a
soft spot around the world and burrow in and plot and plan. And we're
just going to have to enforce the doctrine, either you're with us or
against us. You join the coalition of freedom, or you're on the other
side of the fence.
And we're making good progress, we really are. The other night
when I announced this Department of Homeland Security, I made mention
of the fact that our coalition has hauled in about 2,400 of these
terrorists, these killers. The problem is there's still quite a number
of them still out there.
We're using our military -- we've got a great military, by the
way. I'm really proud of the men and women who wear our uniform, and
our nation stands squarely with our military.
We're using diplomatic pressure. That's an important tool. We're
cutting off their money. That's -- we've been fairly effective at
cutting off their money. We can all do a little better job of denying
them the funds they need. They don't need a lot of money, but they do
need money to conduct their attacks.
We're sharing intelligence. I know many members of this committee
have been very much involved in the intelligence gathering capacity of
America, and we're doing a better job of finding our weaknesses here at
home, and working on the weaknesses. The CIA and the FBI now are doing
a much better job today than they had been prior to September the 11th
of sharing information across these -- what were once formidable
jurisdictional boundaries.
The culture of our agencies have changed since the war. The FBI
has got a -- has got a new job, which is to prevent attack, and
that's now their primary focus. And Bob Mueller is doing a good job of
recognizing the cultural shift that needs to take place, of taking
input, listening to people, and responding.
So we're making progress, we really are. But until we rout out
every terrorist cell and every terrorist, until attitudes change about
freedom in America, we've got to protect our homeland in a new way.
And I want to thank you all for agreeing to help us. You're breaking
new ground, and you're going to help us leave a legacy, so that future
Presidents, future administrations and future Congress can deal more
effectively with how to do the most important job any elected official
has, which is to protect innocent life.
As you know, I called for the Department of Homeland Security.
Obviously I wouldn't have done so if I didn't think it was the absolute
right thing to do. I think it's important to focus the mission,
through reorganization. I know it's going to make -- help us be more
effective here at home.
I also recognize how tough the chore is going to be. I mean, after
all, we are asking people in Congress to give up turf, as they say,
give up a little power. And I'm under no illusions that asking folks
to give up power can be a difficult assignment. So one of the things
I'll do is remind the members of Congress that this is not a political
issue, that protecting America is an American issue. It's a duty we
all have and that I vow not to play politics with doing what's right.
I'll also remind the Congress that I am going to speak to the
American people about this issue. Once I propose it, I'm going to take
my case beyond Washington to the true influence -- the real influence
peddlers of America; that's the American people, the people who work
every day and who've got the capacity to inform their members of
Congress or the Senate their opinion. And that's what I'm going to
continue to do.
I'm going to continue to speak as plainly as I can about the need
for this department, assuring the American people that we're not
interested in increasing the size and scope of the federal government,
we're interested in efficiency. We want an organization that can work
closely with local leaders such as my Mayor, Mayor Williams. We want
to be able to respond better if something were to occur. We want to
know how better to enforce our borders. We want to know when they're
coming in the country and if they're overstaying their visas. We need
to know that in America, under this new -- the new threats under
which we live.
We've got to -- I signed a bioterrorism bill today. I want to
thank you all for coming for the signing ceremony. I saw Jim
Schlesinger there, and I'm sure you're glad I cut my remarks in half,
because the temperature seemed to be -- (laughter) -- seemed to be
a little warm out there. But the idea is to better coordinate our
capacity to detect weapons of mass destruction and respond to them if
they occur.
And, finally, we need an analytical capacity within a department
that can take all the intelligence that's gathered, not only by the FBI
or the CIA, but all throughout our government, and analyze it so we
have a better feel for what the terrorists might be thinking, and then
how to respond.
And you all can play a very useful role in this -- in this
process. You bring a lot of heft and a lot of experience and a lot of
know-how. You can definitely help us understand how best to coordinate
government activities with the private sector, and that's essential,
that we team up to do everything we need to do to protect America.
So I want to thank you for your service. I want you to know this
administration is totally committed to protecting the people. Many of
you are aware of the President's briefing he gets, sees or knows what
the President reads and they're still out there. These people -- you
know, these killers, they're still lurking around. But they picked on
a -- they picked on a group of people who are plenty determined, and
that's the American people.
We've got a fabulous nation. And we're tough and we're determined
and we're united and we're strong. And at the same time, we're showing
the world that we're a compassionate nation, as well. We won the first
battle, or we're winning the first battle in the war of the 21st
century, which was in Afghanistan. And we went into that country not
as conquerors, but as liberators. And I'm proud of our nation, and I'm
proud of your service to our nation. And I want to thank you all for
giving us your time.