[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 156 (Tuesday, November 13, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2062-E2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PRESIDENT BUSH'S PROFOUND REMARKS TO THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL 
                                ASSEMBLY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 13, 2001

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to share with our colleagues President 
Bush's remarks delivered to the United Nations General Assembly on 
Saturday, November 10.
  The President boldly articulates the present crisis confronting 
civilization, underscoring the resolve and courage necessary for 
victory.

                President Bush Speaks to United Nations


  Remarks by the President, To United Nations General Assembly, U.N. 
                    Headquarters, New York, New York

       THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Mr. Secretary General, Mr. 
     President, distinguished delegates, and ladies and gentlemen. 
     We meet in a hall devoted to peace, in a city scarred by 
     violence, in a nation awakened to danger, in a world uniting 
     for a long struggle. Every civilized nation here today is 
     resolved to keep the most basic commitment of civilization: 
     We will defend ourselves and our future against terror and 
     lawless violence.
       The United Nations was founded in this cause. In a second 
     world war, we learned there is no isolation from evil. We 
     affirmed that some crimes are so terrible they offend 
     humanity, itself. And we resolved that the aggressions and 
     ambitions of the wicked must be opposed early, decisively, 
     and collectively, before they threaten us all. That evil has 
     returned, and that cause is renewed.
       A few miles from here, many thousands still lie in a tomb 
     of rubble. Tomorrow, the Secretary General, the President of 
     the General Assembly, and I will visit that site, where the 
     names of every nation and region that lost citizens will be 
     read aloud. If we were to read the names of every person who 
     died, it would take more than three hours.
       Those names include a citizen of Gambia, whose wife spent 
     their fourth wedding anniversary, September the 12th, 
     searching in vain for her husband. Those names include a man 
     who supported his wife in Mexico, sending home money every 
     week. Those names

[[Page E2063]]

     include a young Pakistani who prayed toward Mecca five times 
     a day, and died that day trying to save others.
       The suffering of September the 11th was inflicted on people 
     of many faiths and many nations. All of the victims, 
     including Muslims, were killed with equal indifference and 
     equal satisfaction by the terrorist leaders. The terrorists 
     are violating the tenets of every religion, including the one 
     they invoke.
       Last week, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar University, the world's 
     oldest Islamic institution of higher learning, declared that 
     terrorism is a disease, and that Islam prohibits killing 
     innocent civilians. The terrorists call their cause holy, 
     yet, they fund it with drug dealing; they encourage murder 
     and suicide in the name of a great faith that forbids both. 
     They dare to ask God's blessing as they set out to kill 
     innocent men, women and children. But the God of Isaac and 
     Ishmael would never answer such a prayer. And a murderer is 
     not a martyr; he is just a murderer.
       Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, 
     there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will 
     remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember 
     every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire 
     and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.
       And the people of my country will remember those who have 
     plotted against us. We are learning their names. We are 
     coming to know their faces. There is no corner of the Earth 
     distant or dark enough to protect them. However long it 
     takes, their hour of justice will come. Every nation has a 
     stake in this cause. As we meet, the terrorists are planning 
     more murder--perhaps in my country, or perhaps in yours. They 
     kill because they aspire to dominate. They seek to overthrow 
     governments and destabilize entire regions.
       Last week, anticipating this meeting of the General 
     Assembly, they denounced the United Nations. They called our 
     Secretary General a criminal and condemned all Arab nations 
     here as traitors to Islam.
       Few countries meet their exacting standards of brutality 
     and oppression. Every other country is a potential target. 
     And all the world faces the most horrifying prospect of all: 
     These same terrorists are searching for weapons of mass 
     destruction, the tools to turn their hatred into holocaust. 
     They can be expected to use chemical, biological and nuclear 
     weapons the moment they are capable of doing so. No hint of 
     conscience would prevent it.
       This threat cannot be ignored. This threat cannot be 
     appeased. Civilization, itself, the civilization we share, is 
     threatened. History will record our response, and judge or 
     justify every nation in this hall.
       The civilized world is now responding. We act to defend 
     ourselves and deliver our children from a future of fear. We 
     choose the dignity of life over a culture of death. We choose 
     lawful change and civil disagreement over coercion, 
     subversion, and chaos. These commitments--hope and order, law 
     and life--unite people across cultures and continents. Upon 
     these commitments depend all peace and progress. For these 
     commitments, we are determined to fight.
       The United Nations has risen to this responsibility. On the 
     12th of September, these buildings opened for emergency 
     meetings of the General Assembly and the Security Council. 
     Before the sun had set, these attacks on the world stood 
     condemned by the world. And I want to thank you for this 
     strong and principled stand.
       I also thank the Arab Islamic countries, that, have 
     condemned terrorist murder. Many of you have seen the 
     destruction of terror in your own lands. The terrorists are 
     increasingly isolated by their own hatred and extremism. They 
     cannot hide behind Islam. The authors of mass murder and 
     their allies have no place in any culture, and no home in any 
     faith.
       The conspiracies of terror are being answered by an 
     expanding global coalition. Not every nation will be a part 
     of every action against the enemy. But every nation in our 
     coalition has duties. These duties can be demanding, as we in 
     America are learning. We have already made adjustments in our 
     laws and in our daily lives. We're taking new measures to 
     investigate terror and to protect against threats.
       The leaders of all nations must now carefully consider 
     their responsibilities and their future. Terrorist groups 
     like at Qaeda depend upon the aid or indifference of 
     governments. They need the support of a financial 
     infrastructure, and safe havens to train and plan and hide.
       Some nations want to play their part in the fight against 
     terror, but tell us they lack the means to enforce their laws 
     and control their borders. We stand ready to help. Some 
     governments still turn a blind eye to the terrorists, hoping 
     the threat will pass them by. They are mistaken. And some 
     governments, while pledging to uphold the principles of the 
     U.N., have cast their lot with the terrorists. They support 
     them and harbor them, and they will find that their welcome 
     guests are parasites that will weaken them, and eventually 
     consume them.
       For every regime that sponsors terror, there is a price to 
     be paid. And it will be paid. The allies of terror are 
     equally guilty of murder and equally accountable to justice.
       The Taliban are now learning this lesson--that regime and 
     the terrorists who support it are now virtually 
     indistinguishable. Together they promote terror abroad and 
     impose a reign of terror on the Afghan people. Women are 
     executed in Kabal's soccer stadium. They can be beaten for 
     wearing socks that are too thin. Men are jailed for missing 
     prayer meetings.
       The United States, supported by many nations, is bringing 
     justice to the terrorists in Afghanistan. We're making 
     progress against military targets, and that is our objective. 
     Unlike the enemy, we seek to minimize, not maximize, the loss 
     of innocent life.
       I'm proud of the honorable conduct of the American 
     military. And my country grieves for all the suffering the 
     Taliban has brought upon Afghanistan, including the terrible 
     burden of war. The Afghan people do not deserve their present 
     rulers, Years of Taliban misrule has brought nothing but 
     misery and starvation, Even before this current crisis, 4 
     million Afghans depended on food from the United States and 
     other nations, and millions of Afghans were refugees from 
     Taliban oppression.
       I make this promise to all the victims of that regime: The 
     Taliban's days of harboring terrorists and dealing in heroin 
     and brutalizing women are drawing to a close. And when that 
     regime is gone, the people of Afghanistan will say with the 
     rest of the world: good riddance.
       I can promise, too, that America will join the world in 
     helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country. Many 
     nations, including mine, are sending food and medicine to 
     help Afghans through the winter. America has air-dropped over 
     1.3 million packages of rations into Afghanistan. Just this 
     week, we air-lifted 20,000 blankets and over 200 tons of 
     provisions into the region. We continue to provide 
     humanitarian aid, even while the Taliban tried to steal the 
     food we send.
       More help eventually will be needed. The United States will 
     work closely with the United Nations and development banks to 
     reconstruct Afghanistan after hostilities there have ceased 
     and the Taliban are no longer in control. And the United 
     States will work with the U.N. to support a post-Taliban 
     government that represents all of the Afghan people.
       In this war of terror, each of us must answer for what we 
     have done or what we have left undone. After tragedy, there 
     is a time for sympathy and condolence. And my country has 
     been very grateful for both. The memorials and vigils around 
     the world will not be forgotten. But the time for sympathy 
     has now passed; the time for action has now arrived.
       The most basic obligations in this new conflict have 
     already been defined by the United Nations. On September the 
     28th, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1373. Its 
     requirements are clear: Every United Nations member has a 
     responsibility to crack down on terrorist financing. We must 
     pass all necessary laws in our own countries to allow the 
     confiscation of terrorist assets. We must apply those laws to 
     every financial institution in every nation.
       We have a responsibility to share intelligence and 
     coordinate the efforts of law enforcement. If you know 
     something, tell us. If we know something, we'll tell you. And 
     when we find the terrorists, we must work together to bring 
     them to justice. We have a responsibility to deny any 
     sanctuary, safe haven or transit to terrorists. Every known 
     terrorist camp must be shut down, its operators apprehended, 
     and evidence of their arrest presented to the United Nations. 
     We have a responsibility to deny weapons to terrorists and to 
     actively prevent private citizens from providing them.
       These obligations are urgent and they are binding on every 
     nation with a place in this chamber. Many governments are 
     taking these obligations seriously, and my country 
     appreciates it. Yet, even beyond Resolution 1373, more is 
     required, and more is expected of our coalition against 
     terror.
       We're asking for a comprehensive commitment to this fight. 
     We must unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of 
     them. In this world there are good causes and bad causes, and 
     we may disagree on where the line is drawn. Yet, there is no 
     such thing as a good terrorist. No national aspiration, no 
     remembered wrong can ever justify the deliberate murder of 
     the innocent. Any government that rejects this principle, 
     trying to pick and choose its terrorist friends, will know 
     the consequences.
       We must speak the truth about terror. Let us never tolerate 
     outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of 
     September the llth; malicious lies that attempt to shift the 
     blame away from the terrorists, themselves, away from the 
     guilty. To inflame ethnic hatred is to advance the cause of 
     terror.
       The war against terror must not serve as an excuse to 
     persecute ethnic and religious minorities in any country. 
     Innocent people must be allowed to live their own lives, by 
     their own customs, under their own religion. And every nation 
     must have avenues for the peaceful expression of opinion and 
     dissent. When these avenues are closed, the temptation to 
     speak through violence grows.
       We must press on with our agenda for peace and prosperity 
     in every land. My country is pledged to encouraging 
     development and expanding trade. My country is pledged to 
     investing in education and combatting AIDS and other 
     infectious diseases around the world. Following September 
     llth, these pledges are even more important. In our struggle 
     against hateful groups that exploit poverty and despair, we 
     must offer an alternative of opportunity and hope.

[[Page E2064]]

       The American government also stands by its commitment to a 
     just peace in the Middle East. We are working toward a day 
     when two states, Israel and Palestine, live peacefully 
     together within secure and recognize borders as called for by 
     the Security Council resolutions, We will do all in our power 
     to bring both parties back into negotiations. But peace will 
     only come when all have sworn off, forever, incitement, 
     violence and terror.
       And, finally, this struggle is a defining moment for the 
     United Nations, itself. And the world needs its principled 
     leadership. It undermines the credibility of this great 
     institution, for example, when the Commission on Human Rights 
     offers seats to the world's most persistent violators of 
     human rights. The United Nations depends, above all, on its 
     moral authority--and that authority must be preserved.
       The steps I described will not be easy. For all nations, 
     they will require effort. For some nations, they will require 
     great courage. Yet, the cost of inaction is far greater. The 
     only alternative to victory is a nightmare world where every 
     city is a potential killing field.
       As I've told the American people, freedom and fear are at 
     war. We face enemies that hate not our policies, but our 
     existence; the tolerance of openness and creative culture 
     that defines us. But the outcome of this conflict is certain: 
     There is a current in history and it runs toward freedom. Our 
     enemies resent it and dismiss it, but the dreams of mankind 
     are defined by liberty--the natural right to create and build 
     and worship and live in dignity. When men and women are 
     released from oppression and isolation, they find fulfillment 
     and hope, and they leave poverty by the millions.
       These aspirations are lifting up the peoples of Europe, 
     Asia, Africa and the Americas, and they can lift up all of 
     the Islamic world.
       We stand for the permanent hopes of humanity, and those 
     hopes will not be denied. We're confident, too, that history 
     has an author who fills time and eternity with his purpose. 
     We know that evil is real, but good will prevail against it. 
     This is the teaching of many faiths, and in that assurance we 
     gain strength for a long journey.
       It is our task--the task of this generation--to provide the 
     response to aggression and terror. We have no other choice, 
     because there is no other peace.
       We did not ask for this mission, yet there is honor in 
     history's call. We have a chance to write the story of our 
     times, a story of courage defeating cruelty and light 
     overcoming darkness. This calling is worthy of any life, and 
     worthy of every nation. So let us go forward, confident, 
     determined, and unafraid.
       Thank you very much. (Applause.)

       

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