    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 8, 2002]
    [Pages 363-365]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Roundtable Discussion on Corporate Management Reform
    and an Exchange With Reporters in St. Petersburg, Florida
    March 8, 2002

        The President. I want to thank Mike and
    the good folks here at America II for welcoming me and Jeb and members of the Florida congressional delegation.
    We've just had a fantastic discussion about why this is a unique
    company. It's unique because it has got a culture that understands that
    the worker is an incredibly important part of the vitality of the
    company and therefore its success.
        I'm real proud of Mike. Mike started
    this company in 1989. He had a dream. He worked hard to achieve it. He's
    wise enough to understand that he's only as successful as the good folks
    who work with him. And so it's an honor to be here.
        In the room, I'm going to talk about the opportunities for this
    country to usher in a period of responsibility. Part of a responsible
    society is for there to be a responsible attitude for corporate
    management toward employees and shareholders and disclosure, if you're a
    publicly traded company.
        America II is really the best of the best here in America, and I
    want to thank you for letting me come, Mike. And I want to thank you all very much for sharing.
        I'll answer a couple of questions here.

    Aftermath of September 11

        Q. Mr. President, when you looked down on the ruins of the Pentagon
    on September 11th, didn't you, in your heart of hearts, expect that by
    the time you celebrated the sixth anniversary, that you would know where
    bin Laden was and where Omar was?
        The President.  No. You know, I knew that we were in for a very
    different kind of war. And on 9/12 and the days following, when we put
    the war plan in place, I wasn't sure how long this was going to take. I
    knew we were in for a long struggle, though. And I never had any
    artificial deadlines. The good news is, the American people also
    understand we're in for a long war and that, when it comes to defending
    freedom, we'll take however long it takes to defend our freedom.
        A little later on here, I'll have the privilege of meeting a mom and
    a dad of a soldier who just died in Afghanistan. And I'm going to remind
    them that those lives were not lost in vain and that we will fight
    terror wherever terror exists.
        I will tell you, I am pleased at the progress we have made in a
    quick period of time. Six months is not a very long period of time when
    you think about the enemy we fight. We've made tremendous progress,
    thanks in part to the coalition and thanks in part to the brave men and
    women who wear our uniform. And I am grateful, and so is the Nation
    grateful.
        Those who are preoccupied with one individual do not understand the
    struggle. We fight terror wherever terror exists. And for those people
    who say, ``Well, one person matters,'' they elevate that person to

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    a status that he does not deserve. I don't know whether Mr. bin
    Laden is alive or is dead. I do know we
    haven't heard from him in a long period of time.

    National Economy/Stimulus Package

        Q. Sir, employment grew for the first time in 7 months. Is the
    economy now out of the woods? And the Senate has passed your stimulus
    plan--your reaction, sir?
        The President. Well, first, I am glad the Senate passed the stimulus
    plan. I think it's going to be really good for workers whose lives have
    been affected as a result of 9/11. And it's good for entrepreneurs and
    businessowners because it encourages investment, it encourages
    employment. And the best stimulus plan is one that focuses on jobs.
        And I applaud the House that stayed with this, and I'm glad the
    Senate finally passed it. I look forward to signing it. It is a good
    piece of news for workers and entrepreneurs alike.
        Look, Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters], in terms of the numbers,
    there's going to be a lot of statistics thrown around about our economy.
    But let me tell you bluntly how I feel. People's lives were deeply
    affected on September the 11th. A lot of people got hurt as a result of
    that attack, and I'm concerned about it. I'm concerned about anybody
    who's not working and wants to work, and so we'll let the numbers talk.
    But in terms of policy and the focus of this administration, we're going
    to do everything we can to increase jobs so people can find work.
        One of the reasons we came here is Mike, in the midst of a significant downturn in his
    business, laid nobody off. There wasn't one layoff at America II. If he
    was--well, you know, what about the numbers? Well, the numbers here show
    that he was in a big slowdown. Sales dropped by 40 percent. And yet, he
    understood his responsibility as a decent citizen, and nobody got laid
    off.
        And I'm real proud of that, Mike, and I
    want to thank you for it. And it's the kind of thing, by the way, that
    workers years from now in America II are going to remember, that in the
    midst of this unbelievable, despicable act of evil on America that
    affected our economy--I don't care what the number crunchers say; it
    affected our economy; and it affected a lot of people's lives--this man
    understood the importance of the workforce and kept people employed
    here.
        Anything else?

    Florida Gubernatorial Election

        Q. Mr. President?
        The President. Who are you with?
        Q. St. Petersburg Times.
        Anything to say to Janet Reno, who's tooling around on the other
    side of the bay? [Laughter]
        The President. Pardon me?
        Q. Anything to say about Janet Reno, who's campaigning on the other
    side of the bay today against your brother?
        The President. No, I don't have anything to say. All I've got to
    know is, the people of Florida have got a really good Governor. They would be wise to keep him. [Laughter]

    Operation Anaconda

        Q. Mr. President, the battle going on outside of Gardez--there's
    some rumors now from the Afghan--our Afghan allies that there may be
    some real top leadership, maybe even bin Laden up there. What do you
    know about that?
        The President. I don't know of any specific names, John [John
    Dickerson, TIME]. I do know we're making great progress. I do know that
    anytime we find Al Qaida bunched up like that, we'll get them. And it's
    going to be--there's going to be more battles like this one, and
    American people just need to understand that the best way to secure a
    homeland is to bring them to justice and to get them. And that's exactly
    what's happening as we speak.

    [[Page 365]]

        Our military is tough. Our coalition is strong. And by the way,
    we're fighting fierce fighters. These people evidently don't--they don't
    want to give up. And that's okay. If that's their attitude, we'll just
    have to adjust, and they will have made a mistake, because we're going
    to be relentless and we're steady and we're supporting our military and
    they'll have the tools necessary to achieve victory. But as of specific
    names, I don't know.
        Look, here's the thing. We're fighting leaders of the murderers that
    sent people to commit suicide missions. They're real brave. They say,
    ``You go ahead and commit suicide. I'm going to find a cave. We'll send
    youngsters to their death. In the meantime, I'm going to try to find a
    deep cave somewhere.'' And so when you fight people like that, you never
    know.
        You know, we've closed up a lot of caves in Afghanistan, and one of
    these days, you know, we might find some people still in there. But I
    just don't know, nor am I that focused on it individually.
        I realize we're in for a long struggle. And I'm giving a speech on
    Monday that will outline where we are in this war on terror. And I'm
    going to remind the American people that we've still got a task at hand
    in Afghanistan, which is to deny sanctuary to Al Qaida killers. We have
    achieved a significant victory in Afghanistan by routing the Taliban.
        I'm also going to remind people that we're denying sanctuary in
    other countries as well. I don't want to give you the whole speech; I'd
    like for you to come and listen to it. [Laughter]
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:06 a.m. in the offices of America II
    Electronics. In his remarks, he referred to Michael Galinski, founder
    and chief executive officer, America II Electronics; Gov. Jeb Bush of
    Florida; and Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist
    organization. A reporter referred to Mullah Mohammed Omar, former head
    of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and former Attorney General Janet
    Reno, Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Florida.