    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [January 30, 2002]
    [Pages 144-147]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Arrival in Daytona Beach, Florida
    January 30, 2002

        The President. Thank you all. I'm glad to be back in the great State
    of Florida. I love to come to States where they've got a great Governor.
    As Americans make their travel plans, more of us need to think about
    coming to Florida.
        One of the last times I came was when I went to the racetrack owned
    by Mr. France, right next door to here,
    where Teresa's good husband was driving
    cars. It was such an honor to be with Mr. France and his wife and Teresa Earnhardt. And may God rest Dale's
    soul, and may God bless her family, too.
        I don't know if you all know this, but you sent a good one up to
    represent you in Congress, John Mica. And I
    appreciate John being here. In politics, they've got the talkers, and
    they've got the doers. John is a doer. I worked closely with him on an
    airport security bill that will make sure that, when Americans get on
    their airplanes, it is as safe as can possibly be. And I want to thank
    John for his leadership and his hard work on this vital piece of
    legislation.
         I know we've got some from the statehouse in particular--the
    Speaker of the House Feeney. I'm so honored that
    people came down from Tallahassee to say hello to Jeb's ``little'' big brother. [Laughter] I am so thrilled to be
    here.
         I hope I didn't speak to long last night.
        Audience members. No-o-o!
        The President. I didn't mean to keep people up too late, but I had
    something to say. The state of our Union is strong; this is a great
    nation. We've got some challenges ahead, but this country is going to
    rise to the challenges.
        We've got a big task ahead, and that is to rid the world of terror.
    I know people say, ``What does that mean?'' Well, it means that in order
    to keep America safe, we've got to make it clear to any person who
    thinks they want to be a terrorist that this great Nation and its
    coalition will find you and bring you to justice. It means that if you
    harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist,
    you're just as guilty as a terrorist.
        Our mission is more than just Afghanistan, although we've been
    pretty darn successful there, thanks to the United States military. And
    for those of you who have a loved one in our military or in the
    military, I want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. I'm so
    proud--I'm so proud of the men and women who wear our uniform.
         And you need to be proud, too. We've sent them into a tough
    mission, and they've accomplished that mission exactly the way that I
    hoped they would. We routed the Taliban, and by the way, there's nothing
    that makes me more joyous than to know our great military have been
    liberators, liberators of oppressed women and children, liberating
    people from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in the
    history of mankind.
        We're still in that theater. We will be in that theater with our
    military until we bring Al Qaida to justice. This is a dangerous phase
    of the first theater in the war on terror because there's a lot of
    caves. And we're trying to find people who, on

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    the one hand, send youngsters to their death and, on the other hand,
    hide. On the one hand, they say, ``It's okay for you to go kill
    yourself.'' And on the other hand, they're running and hiding.
        But see, what they don't understand about this Nation is, we are
    patient; we are determined; we are steadfast. We're going to keep them
    running, and one of these days, we'll bring them to justice.
        But the mission is more than just Afghanistan and Al Qaida. We need
    not be focused on one person, because we're fighting for freedom and
    civilized civilization. We fight to make sure our children and our
    children's children can grow up in a peaceful world, a world based upon
    values that respect dignity of life and the individual--values,
    universal values.
        We fight evil people, people who want to murder us, people who hate
    America and what we stand for. And that's why we'll be relentless and
    steady. The world looks to us for leadership. If we blink, they may go
    to sleep. That's why we're not going to blink. That's why we're going to
    be after them. That's why we're going to disrupt their finances. That's
    why we're going to hold people account. That's why we're going to say,
    ``If you develop weapons of mass destruction and you aim and ruin the
    security of us or our allies, we will hold you accountable.'' That's why
    this Nation is going to stand tall and strong and not relent in the face
    of terror.
        My biggest job is to secure our homeland. I walk into that
    magnificent Oval Office in the morning, and I look at a threat
    assessment, where the enemy may try to hit us again. And make no mistake
    about it, they'd like to. My biggest job is to rally the resources of
    our Government to prevent anything from happening to the innocent life
    in America. And I take it seriously, and so does our Government. We're
    doing everything in our power to seek down leads, to alert people if
    necessary, to gather as much intelligence as we can and share it
    quickly.
        The Federal Bureau of Investigation's major mission now is to keep
    the homeland safe, is to prevent another attack. So for all the law
    enforcement officials who are here, I want to thank you very much for
    your diligence, your hard work, for keeping your eyes and ears alert.
        Traveling around the country, talking about a homeland initiative
    that's going to enhance more spending for--to fight bioterrorism; more
    money for first-responders, like the fire and the police, to make sure
    the emergency plans are in place; more money for the health agencies
    around the country; more money to make sure that we understand who's
    coming into our country and who leaves our country; more money--
    [applause] No, they've put us on notice, and we're after them. The best
    way to secure our homeland in the long term, however, is to take this
    war wherever a terrorist tries to hide and get them. And that's exactly
    what we're going to do.
        I sent a budget--one of the things a President does is put out a
    budget. I sent a budget up. It starts with this number one priority: If
    you wear our uniform, you deserve the best training, the best equipment,
    and another pay raise. The second budget request I put in there is for a
    homeland security, and the third is for job security. I know there are
    some people hurting in this State, and my interest is to make sure we do
    wise things to increase the job base. We're going to help people with an
    unemployment check, but what Americans want is a steady paycheck.
        Oh, I know there's been a lot of talk about, you know, revenues here
    and spending here and all that. Let me just tell you something about the
    tax relief plan that you helped us pass. Thank goodness we passed it. It
    came at the right time. If you want to fight off a recession, if you're
    interested in job creation, one of the best ways to do so is to let
    people keep their own money so they can spend it and therefore create
    more jobs.

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        We did exactly the right thing in Washington, DC. We made the exact
    right decision. I know there are some who have got a different theory
    about economics; that is, if you take more money out of people's pockets
    and increase the size of Government, the economy recovers. That's not
    what we think. That's not--and most economists will tell you, if you
    encourage a tax rise in times of recession, it will make matters worse.
    That's Economics 101. Evidently, some of them up there forgot to pick up
    the textbook. [Laughter] This tax cut says we trust people with their
    own money, and it also reminds people that we're dealing not with the
    Government's money but with the people's money.
        We need to stimulate more economic growth by encouraging investment
    in plant and equipment, which means jobs, and by stimulating consumer
    spending by accelerating the tax relief plan, which means jobs. Jobs is
    the central core of any stimulus package.
        And let me remind you something else about jobs. In order to make
    sure people can find work and the job base of America expands, folks, we
    need an energy policy. We need a policy that has reliable energy for
    America. Imagine an employer wondering whether or not they're going to
    run out of energy. That person is not likely to hire somebody. Or if we
    get tight on energy, the price of energy goes up--it means somebody is
    not going to be able to find work. We need an energy policy. We need to
    encourage conservation. We need to build infrastructure, and we need to
    encourage exploration amongst--in the United States. A good energy
    policy is job security. But a good energy policy that reduces dependency
    upon foreign oil is a matter of national security as well.
        Like I said last night, I have been in awe of the American people.
        Audience member. We love you! [Laughter]
        The President. I'm at a loss for words. I'm speechless. [Laughter]
    May be hard to believe, after 49 minutes of talking last night.
    [Laughter] But I do want to tell you that this is a fabulous land, as
    you know. And we've got a great opportunity. The enemy hit us. As I like
    to kind of tease the enemy, they must have been watching too much
    daytime TV. They thought we were soft. They thought we were
    materialistic. They thought we wouldn't fight for what we believed. They
    thought we would cower in the face of terror. And my, my, are they
    wrong. Quite the contrary has happened. This great Nation is unified and
    steadfast, and this Nation understands that if you want to fight evil,
    you do so with acts of goodness.
        I'm asked all the time, ``What can I do to help?'' People say,
    ``Well, gosh, I want to be a part of the war against terror.'' And my
    answer is: Love somebody; be a good mother or dad. I answered the call
    last night for--many of you, I know, are spending a lot of time in your
    communities and helping people in need, worrying about kids in school,
    helping the schools, teaching in the schools, perhaps. But I'm calling
    on America--and I did last night, and I will continue to do so--to serve
    2 years, or 4,000 hours, for the rest of your life, in service to your
    community.
        And if you don't have a place, we've started what's called the USA
    Freedom Corps. It's a chance for retired police officers or firemen to
    help out the local law enforcement authorities to be on alert. I'll give
    you an interesting idea that took place in Maine. They've got--Maine
    lobstermen are now patrolling the coast on a volunteer basis to make
    sure that somebody in a--somebody carrying something they don't want to
    carry in a boat shows up on the coast.
        I mean, there's all kinds of ways to serve the community. We're
    looking for people to be mentors. We're looking for teachers to teach in
    neighborhoods that may need teachers. Tomorrow--I'm here because I want
    to go by a Senior Corps program where senior citizens are signed up to
    help

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    lend their talents and their valuable experience in the communities.
    There's all kinds of ways, all kinds of ways, that Americans can serve
    their communities and their neighborhoods. And by doing so, we stand
    square in the face of evil. We tell the enemy, ``You can't get us. You
    think so--you think you can tear down the spirit of America, but quite
    the contrary. We are stronger than we have ever been as a nation.''
         Nobody wishes this evil had ever happened, but as a result of evil,
    there's some amazing things that are taking place in America. People
    have really begun to challenge the culture of the past that said, ``If
    it feels good, do it,'' to welcome a new culture that says, ``I'm
    responsible for the decisions I make in life.''
        This Nation has a chance--this Nation, this great Nation has a
    chance to help change the culture. We have a chance to stand up for
    being a mom or dad by just loving your kids more. We have a chance to
    fight evil by walking across the street to a shut-in, saying, ``Somebody
    cares.'' We have a chance to say to the thousands of children whose moms
    or dads and parents--to match them with a mentor--in prison--and match
    them with a mentor, so these youngsters know there's hope in our
    society, that they know there's love.
        We have a chance to change our culture for the better. We have a
    chance to turn this evil--to turn the evil deeds and the evil acts into
    incredible, long-term good for our Nation. I ask you to seize the
    moment. I ask you to understand that we've got to be patient; we've got
    to be steadfast in our drive overseas; and we've got to be loving and
    decent and compassionate at home. And when we do--and when we do, we
    will have proved to the world once again that every time, good overcomes
    evil.
        It is such an honor to be here, back in Daytona Beach. And it's such
    an honor to be the President of the greatest nation on the face of the
    Earth. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:35 p.m. in the Daytona Beach Jet Center
    Corporate Hangar at Daytona Beach International Airport. In his remarks,
    he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; William C. France, chairman and
    chief executive officer, International Speedway Corp. and NASCAR, and
    his wife, Betty Jane; Teresa Earnhardt, widow of NASCAR champion Dale
    Earnhardt; and Speaker Tom Feeney, Florida House of Representatives.