    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [September 24, 2001]
    [Pages 1154-1155]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Jean
    Chretien of Canada
    September 24, 2001

        President Bush. It's my honor to welcome our close friend Jean
    Chretien to the White House again. Thank you for coming.
        You know, after this terrible incident on September 11th, one of the
    first phone calls I received was from the Prime Minister, offering all
    his support and condolences to the United States and our citizens. It
    was like getting a phone call from a brother, and I appreciate that so
    very much.
        We've got a great partner in our neighborhood who understands what I
    know, that we are facing a new type of war. And those of us who love
    freedom, like the Canadians love freedom, now understand that freedom is
    under attack. And we've combined together to fight--to fight against a
    new enemy. And the Prime Minister understands that.
        We had a great discussion about a variety of issues. We discussed
    the need for us to continue to work peacefully along a huge border.
    Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better. And
    there is no doubt in my mind that the Prime Minister and the Canadian
    people will work hard to make sure that Canada is secure from any
    terrorist activity that takes place, just like I can assure the Prime
    Minister we're doing the same. We both have a mutual responsibility in
    our hemisphere to find and disrupt terrorist organizations.

    [[Page 1155]]

        An amazing thing came up the other day. Somebody said to me, ``Well,
    you know, in your speech to Congress, there were some that took affront
    in Canada''--because I didn't mention the name. I didn't necessarily
    think it was important to praise a brother; after all, we're talking
    about family. There should be no doubt in anybody's mind about how
    honored we are to have the support of the Canadians and how strong the
    Canadian Prime Minister has been, and not only his condolences but his
    offer of support for the American people.
        I guess there's--somebody is playing politics with you, Mr. Prime
    Minister. But I suggest those who try to play politics with my words and
    drive wedges between Canada and me understand that at this time, when
    nations are under attack, now is not the time for politics. Now is the
    time to develop a strategy to fight and win the war. And Mr. Prime
    Minister, I want to thank you for being here to continue those efforts
    with me.
        Prime Minister Chretien. Thank you, Mr. President. And I am happy to
    be with you. I think that, as you say, we're part of--not America; we're
    your neighbor, friends, and family. And we have to work together. This
    problem of terrorism is a problem that concerns all the nations of the
    world. And we're working together to build a coalition that will defeat
    that, because it will disrupt the societies around the world. And I
    think that you know you have the support of Canadians. When you will
    need us, we will be there.
        We had a very good discussion this morning on the element of the
    solutions, and we will carry on during the lunchtime. I guess that the
    Canadians were traumatized by what happened 2 weeks ago. And we had the
    occasion to receive 45,000 Americans on the Canadian soil who had to be
    diverted to Canada. And we had a great demonstration of support when
    100,000 Canadians appeared on the hill to offer support to our neighbor
    and friends and family, the Americans.
        So we will work together. We will have occasion to carry this
    message that we have to be together, because Canada participates in the
    meeting of the Commonwealth next--10 days from now, in Australia. And
    later on, there will be the meeting of the Francophone in Lebanon,
    where, again, we'll have to talk to all the leaders and tell them that
    we're all in that fight.

    [At this point, Prime Minister Chretien spoke in French, and a
    translation was not provided.]

        President Bush. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12 p.m. in the Colonnade at the White
    House.