[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 123 (Thursday, September 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9553-S9555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT

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  REPORT ON RECOVERY AND RESPONSE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS ON WORLD TRADE 
         CENTER AND PENTAGON--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 43

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a message from the 
President of the United States, transmitting a copy of the President's 
address concerning the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade 
Center and the Pentagon, delivered to a joint session of Congress on 
September 20, 2001; which was ordered to lie on the table.

To the Congress of the United States:
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. President pro tempore, Members of Congress, and 
fellow Americans:
  In the normal course of events, Presidents come to this chamber to 
report on the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It 
has already been delivered by the American people.
  We have seen it in the courage of passengers, who rushed terrorists 
to save others on the ground--passengers like an exceptional man named 
Todd Beamer. Please help me to welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here 
tonight.
  We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers, 
working past exhaustion. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the 
lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers--in 
English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and 
giving people, who have made the grief of strangers their own.
  My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen 
for itself the state of our Union--and it is strong.
  Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend 
freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. 
Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our 
enemies, justice will be done.
  I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time. 
All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see 
Republicans and Democrats, joined together on the steps of this 
Capitol, singing ``God Bless America.'' And you did more than sing, you 
acted, by delivering forty billion dollars to rebuild our communities 
and meet the needs of our military.
  Speaker Hastert and Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader 
Daschle, and Senator Lott, I thank you for your friendship and your 
leadership and your service to our country.
  And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its 
outpouring of support. America will never forget the sounds of our 
National Anthem playing at Buckingham Palace, and on the streets of 
Paris, and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. We will not forget South 
Korean children gathering to pray outside our embassy in Seoul, or the 
prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo. We will not forget

[[Page S9554]]

moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa and 
Latin America.
  Nor will we forget the citizens of eighty other nations who died with 
our own. Dozens of Pakistanis. More than 130 Israelis. More than 250 
citizens of India. Men and women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico, and 
Japan. And hundreds of British citizens. America has no truer friend 
than Great Britain. Once again, we are joined together in a great 
cause. The British Prime Minister has crossed an ocean to show his 
unity of purpose with America, and tonight we welcome Tony Blair.
  On September the eleventh, enemies of freedom committed an act of war 
against our country. Americans have known wars--but for the past 136 
years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 
1941. Americans have known the casualties of war--but not at the center 
of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise 
attacks--but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was 
brought upon us in a single day--and night fell on a different world, a 
world where freedom itself is under attack.
  Americans have many questions tonight. Americans are asking: Who 
attacked our country?
  The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely 
affiliated terrorist organizations known as al-Qaida. They are the same 
murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and 
Kenya, and responsible for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.
  Al-Qaida is to terror what the mafia is to crime. But its goal is not 
making money; its goal is remaking the world--and imposing its radical 
beliefs on people everywhere.
  The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has 
been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim 
clerics--a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of 
Islam. The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and 
Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no distinctions among military 
and civilians, including women and children.

  This group and its leaders--a person named Usama bin Ladin--are 
linked to many other organizations in different countries, including 
the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
  There are thousands of these terrorists in more than sixty countries. 
They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods, and 
brought to camps in places like Afghanistan where they are trained in 
the tactics of terror. They are sent back to their homes or sent to 
hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction.
  The leadership of al-Qaida has great influence in Afghanistan, and 
supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country. In 
Afghanistan, we see al-Qaida's vision for the world.
  Afghanistan's people have been brutalized--many are starving and many 
have fled. Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed 
for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their 
leaders dictate. A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not 
long enough.
  The United States respects the people of Afghanistan--after all, we 
are currently its largest source of humanitarian aid--but we condemn 
the Taliban regime. It is not only repressing its own people, it is 
threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and 
supplying terrorists. By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime 
is committing murder. And tonight, the United States of America makes 
the following demands on the Taliban:
  Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaida who 
hide in your land.
  Release all foreign nationals--including American citizens--you have 
unjustly imprisoned, and protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and 
aid workers in your country.
  Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in 
Afghanistan and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their 
support structure, to appropriate authorities.
  Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we 
can make sure they are no longer operating.
  These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban 
must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or 
they will share in their fate.
  I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the 
world: We respect your faith. It is practiced freely by many millions 
of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America counts as 
friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil 
in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are 
traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. 
The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many 
Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every 
government that supports them.
  Our war on terror with al-Qaida, but it does not end there. It will 
not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, 
stopped, and defeated.
  Americans are asking: Why do they hate us?
  They hate what we see right here in this chamber--a democratically 
elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our 
freedoms--our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom 
to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.
  They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries, 
such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out 
of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast 
regions of Asia and Africa.
  These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end 
a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows 
fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They 
stand against us, because we stand in their way.
  We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their 
kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 
twentieth century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical 
visions--by abandoning every value except the will to power--they 
follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And 
they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's 
unmarked grave of discarded lies.
  Americans are asking: How will we fight and win this war?
  We will direct every resource at our command--every means of 
diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law 
enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of 
war--to the disruption and defeat of the global terror network.
  This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with its 
decisive liberation of territory and its swift conclusion. It will not 
look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground 
troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.
  Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated 
strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy 
campaign, unlike any other we have seen. It may include dramatic 
strikes, visible on television, and covert operations, secret even in 
success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against 
another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or 
rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to 
terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. 
Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day 
forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will 
be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.
  Our Nation has been put on notice: We are not immune from attack. We 
will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans.
  Today, dozens of Federal departments and agencies, as well as State 
and local governments, have responsibilities affecting homeland 
security. These efforts must be coordinated at the highest level. So 
tonight I announce the creation of a Cabinet-level position reporting 
directly to me--the Office of Homeland Security. And tonight I also 
announce a distinguished American to lead this effort to strengthen 
America's security--a military veteran, an effective Governor, a true 
patriot, and my trusted friend,

[[Page S9555]]

Pennsylvania's Governor Tom Ridge. He will lead, oversee, and 
coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country 
against terrorism, and respond to any attacks that may come.
  These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as 
a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it 
where it grows.
  Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI agents to intelligence 
operatives to the reservists we have called to active duty. All deserve 
our thanks, and all have our prayers. And tonight, a few miles from the 
damaged Pentagon, I have a message for our military: Be ready. I have 
called the armed forces to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is 
coming when America will act, and you will make us proud.
  This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is 
not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight. This is 
civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress 
and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.
  We ask every nation to join us. We will ask, and we will need, the 
help of police forces, intelligence services, and banking systems 
around the world. The United States is grateful that many nations and 
many international organizations have already responded--with sympathy 
and with support. Nations from Latin America, to Asia, to Africa, to 
Europe, to the Islamic world. Perhaps the NATO Charter reflects best 
the attitude of the world: an attack on one is an attack on all.

  The civilized world is rallying to America's side. They understand 
that if this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own 
citizens may be next. Terror, unanswered, can not only bring down 
buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate governments. And 
we will not allow it.
  Americans are asking: What is expected of us?
  I ask you to live your lives and hug your children. I know many 
citizens have fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, 
even in the face of a continuing threat.
  I ask you to uphold the values of America, and remember why so many 
have come here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first 
responsibility is to live by them. No one should be singled out for 
unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or 
religious faith.
  I ask you to continue to support the victims of this tragedy with 
your contributions. Those who want to give can go to a central source 
of information, libertyunites.org, to find the names of groups 
providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
  The thousands of FBI agents who are now at work in this investigation 
may need your cooperation, and I ask you to give it.
  I ask for your patience, with the delays and inconveniences that may 
accompany tighter security--and for your patience in what will be a 
long struggle.
  I ask your continued participation and confidence in the American 
economy. Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity. They did 
not touch its source. America is successful because of the hard work, 
and creativity, and enterprise of our people. These were the true 
strengths of our economy before September eleventh, and they are our 
strengths today.
  Finally, please continue praying for the victims of terror and their 
families, for those in uniform, and for our great country. Prayer has 
comforted us in sorrow, and will help strengthen us for the journey 
ahead.
  Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you have already done 
and for what you will do. And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I 
thank you, their representatives, for what you have already done, and 
for what we will do together.
  Tonight, we face new and sudden national challenges. We will come 
together to improve air safety, to dramatically expand the number of 
air marshals on domestic flights, and take new measures to prevent 
hijacking. We will come together to promote stability and keep our 
airlines flying with direct assistance during this emergency.
  We will come together to give law enforcement the additional tools it 
needs to track down terror here at home. We will come together to 
strengthen our intelligence capabilities to know the plans of 
terrorists before they act, and find them before they strike.
  We will come together to take active steps that strengthen America's 
economy, and put our people back to work.
  Tonight we welcome here two leaders who embody the extraordinary 
spirit of all New Yorkers: Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudy 
Giuliani. As a symbol of America's resolve, my Administration will work 
with the Congress, and these two leaders, to show the world that we 
will rebuild New York City.
  After all that has just passed--all the lives taken, and all the 
possibilities and hopes that died with them--it is natural to wonder if 
America's future is one of fear. Some speak of an age of terror. I know 
there are struggles ahead, and dangers to face. But this country will 
define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States 
of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror; 
this will be an age of liberty, here and across the world.

  Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in 
our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom 
and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom--the great 
achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time--now depends 
on us. Our Nation--this generation--will lift a dark threat of violence 
from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause, 
by our efforts and by our courage. We will not tire, we will not 
falter, and we will not fail.
  It is my hope that in the months and years ahead, life will return 
almost to normal. We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is 
good. Even grief recedes with time and grace. But our resolve must not 
pass. Each of us will remember what happened that day, and to whom it 
happened. We will remember the moment the news came--where we were and 
what we were doing. Some will remember an image of fire, or a story of 
rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
  And I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George 
Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It 
was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. 
This is my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end.
  I will not forget this wound to our country, or those who inflicted 
it. I will not yield--I will not rest--I will not relent in waging this 
struggle for the freedom and security of the American people.
  The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. 
Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we 
know that God is not neutral between them.
  Fellow citizens, we will meet violence with patient justice--assured 
of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. 
In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch 
over the United States of America.
  Thank you.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, September 20, 2001.

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