    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 23, 2002]
    [Pages 854-858]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to a Special Session of the German Bundestag
    May 23, 2002

        The President. President, thank you very
    much for your kind introduction. And thank you for giving me this chance
    to be here today. President Rau, thank you very much; Chancellor
    Schroeder. I understand former Chancellor
    Kohl is here. I want to thank the members of the
    Bundestag. How are you, sir? I was a little nervous when the President
    told me that you all are on vacation. [Laughter] I can just imagine how
    my Congress would react if I called them back to hear a speech of mine
    when they were on vacation. [Laughter] But thank you for coming. I'm so
    honored to be here, and my wife Laura and I
    really appreciate the hospitality that you've shown us.
        I've had the pleasure of welcoming your Chancellor to Washington three times, and we have established a
    strong relationship. Mr. Chancellor, I'm grateful.
        And now I am honored to visit this great city. The history of our
    time is written in the life of Berlin. In this building, fires of hatred
    were set that swept across the world. To this city, Allied planes
    brought food and hope during 323 days and nights of siege. Across an
    infamous divide, men and women jumped from tenement buildings and
    crossed through razor wire to live in freedom or to die in the attempt.
    One American President came here to proudly call himself a citizen of
    Berlin. Another President dared the Soviets to tear down that wall. And
    on a night in November, Berliners took history into their hands and made
    your city whole.
        In a single lifetime, the people of this capital and this country
    endured 12 years of dictatorial rule, suffered 40 years of bitter
    separation, and persevered through the challenging decade of
    unification. For all these trials, Germany has emerged a responsible and
    prosperous and peaceful nation. More than a decade ago, as the President
    pointed out, my dad spoke of Germany and America as partners in
    leadership, and this has come to pass. A new era has arrived. The strong
    Germany you have built is good for the world.
        On both sides of the Atlantic, the generation of our fathers was
    called to shape great events, and they built the great transatlantic
    alliance of democracies. They built the most successful alliance in
    history. After the cold war, during the relative quiet of the 1990s,
    some questioned whether our transatlantic partnership still had a
    purpose. History has given its answer. Our generation faces new and
    grave threats to liberty, to the safety of our people, and to
    civilization itself. We face an aggressive force that glorifies death,
    that targets the innocent, and seeks the means to matter--murder on a
    massive scale. We face the global tragedy of disease and poverty that
    take uncounted lives and leave whole nations vulnerable to oppression
    and terror.
        We'll face these challenges together. We must face them together.
    Those who despise human freedom will attack it on every continent. Those
    who seek missiles and terrible weapons are also familiar with the map of
    Europe. Like the threats of another era, this threat cannot be appeased
    or cannot be ignored. By being patient, relentless, and resolute, we
    will defeat the enemies of freedom.
        By remaining united----

    [At this point, there was a disturbance in the audience.]

        The President. By remaining united, we are meeting--we are meeting
    modern threats with the greatest resources of wealth and will ever
    assembled by free nations. Together, Europe and the United States have
    the creative genius, the economic power, the moral heritage, and the
    democratic vision to protect our liberty and to advance our cause of
    peace.

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        Different as we are, we are building and defending the same house of
    freedom--its doors open to all of Europe's people, its windows looking
    out to global challenges beyond. We must lay the foundation with a
    Europe that is whole and free and at peace for the first time in its
    history. This dream of the centuries is close at hand.
        From the Argonne Forest to the Anzio beachhead, conflicts in Europe
    have drawn the blood of millions, squandering and shattering lives
    across the Earth. There are thousands, thousands of monuments in parks
    and squares across my country to young men of 18 and 19 and 20 whose
    lives ended in battle on this continent. Ours is the first generation in
    a hundred years that does not expect and does not fear the next European
    war. And that achievement--your achievement--is one of the greatest in
    modern times.
        When Europe grows in unity, Europe and America grow in security.
    When you integrate your markets and share a currency in the European
    Union, you are creating the conditions for security and common purpose.
    In all these steps, Americans do not see the rise of a rival, we see the
    end of old hostilities. We see the success of our Allies, and we applaud
    your progress.
        The expansion of NATO will also extend the security on this
    continent, especially for nations that knew little peace or security in
    the last century. We have moved cautiously in this direction; now we
    must act decisively.
        As our summit in Prague approaches, America is committed to NATO
    membership for all of Europe's democracies that are ready to share in
    the responsibilities that NATO brings. Every part of Europe should share
    in the security and success of this continent. A broader alliance will
    strengthen NATO; it will fulfill NATO's promise.
        Another mission we share is to encourage the Russian people to find
    their future in Europe and with America. Russia has its best chance
    since 1917 to become a part of Europe's family. Russia's transformation
    is not finished; the outcome is not yet determined. But for all the
    problems and challenges, Russia is moving toward freedom, more freedom
    in its politics and its markets, freedom that will help Russia to act as
    a great and just power. A Russia at peace with its neighbors, respecting
    the legitimate rights of minorities, is welcome in Europe.
        A new Russian-American partnership is being forged. Russia is
    lending crucial support in the war on global terror. A Russian colonel
    now works on the staff of U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, commander of the war in Afghanistan. And in Afghanistan,
    itself, Russia is helping to build hospitals and a better future for the
    Afghan people.
        America and Europe must throw off old suspicions and realize our
    common interests with Russia. Tomorrow in Moscow, President Putin and I will again act upon these interests.
        The United States and Russia are ridding ourselves of the last
    vestiges of cold war confrontation. We have moved beyond an ABM treaty
    that prevented us from defending our people and our friends. Some warned
    that moving beyond the ABM treaty would cause an arms race. Instead,
    President Putin and I are about to sign the
    most dramatic nuclear arms reduction in history. Both the United States
    and Russia will reduce our nuclear arsenals by about two-thirds, to the
    lowest level in decades. Old arms agreements sought to manage hostility
    and maintain a balance of terror. This new agreement recognizes that
    Russia and the West are no longer enemies.
        The entire transatlantic Alliance is forming a new relationship with
    Russia. Next week in Rome, Chancellor Schroeder, NATO Allies, and I will meet as equal partners with
    President Putin at the creation of the NATO-
    Russia Council. The Council gives us an opportunity to build common
    security against common threats. We will start with projects on
    nonproliferation,

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    counterterrorism, and search-and-rescue operations. Over time, we will
    expand this cooperation, even as we preserve the core mission of NATO.
    Many generations have looked at Russia with alarm. Our generation can
    finally lift this shadow from Europe by embracing the friendship of a
    new democratic Russia.
        As we expand our Alliance, as we reach out to Russia, we must also
    look beyond Europe to gathering dangers and important responsibilities.
    As we build the house of freedom, we must meet the challenges of a
    larger world. And we must meet them together.
        For the United States, September the 11th, 2001, cut a deep dividing
    line in our history, a change of eras as sharp and clear as Pearl Harbor
    or the first day of the Berlin blockade. There can be no lasting
    security in a world at the mercy of terrorists--for my Nation or for any
    nation.
        Given this threat, NATO's defining purpose, our collective defense,
    is as urgent as ever. America and Europe need each other to fight and
    win the war against global terror. My Nation is so grateful for the
    sympathy of the German people and for the strong support of Germany and
    all of Europe.
        Troops from more than a dozen European countries have deployed in
    and around Afghanistan, including thousands from this country, the first
    deployment of German forces outside of Europe since 1945. German
    soldiers have died in this war, and we mourn their loss as we do our
    own. German authorities are on the trail of terrorist cells and
    finances. And German police are helping Afghans build their own police
    force, and we're so grateful for this support.
        Together, we oppose an enemy that thrives on violence and the grief
    of the innocent. The terrorists are defined by their hatreds. They hate
    democracy and tolerance and free expression and women and Jews and
    Christians and all Muslims who disagree with them. Others killed in the
    name of racial purity or the class struggle; these enemies kill in the
    name of a false religious purity, perverting the faith they claim to
    hold. In this war we defend not just America or Europe; we are defending
    civilization itself.
        The evil that has formed against us has been termed the ``new
    totalitarian threat.'' The authors of terror are seeking nuclear,
    chemical, and biological weapons. Regimes that sponsor terror are
    developing these weapons and the missiles to deliver them. If these
    regimes and their terrorist allies were to perfect these capabilities,
    no inner voice of reason, no hint of conscience would prevent their use.
        Wishful thinking might bring comfort but not security. Call this a
    strategic challenge; call it, as I do, ``axis of evil''; call it by any
    name you choose; but let us speak the truth: If we ignore this threat,
    we invite certain blackmail and place millions of our citizens in grave
    danger.
        Our response will be reasoned and focused and deliberate. We will
    use more than our military might. We will cut off terrorist finances,
    apply diplomatic pressure, and continue to share intelligence. America
    will consult closely with our friends and allies at every stage. But
    make no mistake about it, we will and we must confront this conspiracy
    against our liberty and against our lives.
        As it faces new threats, NATO needs a new strategy and new
    capabilities. Dangers originating far from Europe can now strike at
    Europe's heart, so NATO must be able and willing to act whenever threats
    emerge. This will require all the assets of modern defense: mobile and
    deployable forces, sophisticated special operations, the ability to
    fight under the threat of chemical and biological weapons. Each nation
    must focus on the military strengths it can bring to this alliance, with
    the hard choices and financial commitment that requires. We do not know
    where the next threat might come from; we really don't know what form it
    might take. But we must be ready, as full

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    military partners, to confront these urgent threats to our common
    security.
        One way to make ourselves more secure is to address the regional
    conflicts that enflame violence. Our work in the Balkans and Afghanistan
    shows how much we can achieve when we stand together. We must continue
    to stand for peace in the Middle East. That peace must assure the
    permanent safety of the Jewish people, and that peace must provide the
    Palestinian people with a state of their own.
        In the midst of terrorist violence in the Middle East, the hope of a
    lasting accord may seem distant. That's how many once viewed the
    prospect of peace between Poland and Germany, Germany and France, France
    and England, Protestant and Catholic. Yet, after generations of traded
    violence and humiliation, we have seen enemies become partners and
    allies in a new Europe. We pray the same healing, the same shredding of
    hatred, might come to the Middle East. And we will be unrelenting in our
    quest for that peace.
        We must recognize that violence and resentment are defeated by the
    advance of health and learning and prosperity. Poverty doesn't create
    terror; yet, terror takes root in failing nations that do not police
    themselves or provide for their people. Our conscience and our interests
    speak as one: To achieve a safer world, we must create a better world.
        The expansion of trade in our time is one of the primary reasons for
    our progress against poverty. At Doha, we committed to build on this
    progress, and we must keep that commitment. Transatlantic nations must
    resolve the small, disputed portion of our vast trading relationship
    within the rules and settlement mechanisms of the World Trade
    Organization, whether those disputes concern tax law, steel,
    agriculture, or biotechnology.
        For all nations--for all nations to gain the benefit of global
    markets, they need populations that are healthy and literate. To help
    developing nations achieve these goals, leaders of wealthy nations have
    a duty of conscience. We have a duty to share our wealth generously and
    wisely. Those who lead poor nations have a duty to their own people, but
    they have a duty as well, to pursue reforms that turn temporary aid into
    lasting progress.
        I've proposed that new American aid be directed to nations on the
    path of reform. The United States will increase our core development
    assistance by 50 percent over the next 3 budget years. It will be up to
    a level of 5 billion a year, above and beyond that which we already
    contribute to development.
        When nations are governed justly, the people benefit. When nations
    are governed unjustly, for the benefit of a corrupt few, no amount of
    aid will help the people in need. When nations are governed justly--when
    nations are governed justly, investing in education and health and
    encouraging economic freedom, they will have our help. And more
    importantly, these rising nations will have their own ability and,
    eventually, the resources necessary to battle disease and improve their
    environment and build lives of dignity for their people.
        Members of the Bundestag, we are joined in serious purpose--very
    serious purposes--on which the safety of our people and the fate of our
    freedom now rest. We build a world of justice, or we will live in a
    world of coercion. The magnitude of our shared responsibilities makes
    our disagreements look so small. And those who exaggerate our
    differences play a shallow game and hold a simplistic view of our
    relationship.
        America and the nations in Europe are more than military allies;
    we're more than trading partners; we are heirs to the same civilization.
    The pledges of the Magna Carta, the learning of Athens, the creativity
    of Paris, the unbending conscience of Luther, the gentle faith of St.
    Francis: All of these are part of the American soul. The New World has
    succeeded by holding to the values of the Old.

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        Our histories have diverged, yet we seek to live by the same ideals.
    We believe in free markets, tempered by compassion. We believe in open
    societies that reflect unchanging truths. We believe in the value and
    dignity of every life.
        These convictions bind our civilization together and set our enemies
    against us. These convictions are universally true and right. And they
    define our nations and our partnership in a unique way. And these
    beliefs lead us to fight tyranny and evil, as others have done before
    us.
        One of the greatest Germans of the 20th century was Pastor Dietrich
    Bonhoeffer, who left the security of America to stand against Nazi rule.
    In a dark hour, he gave witness to the Gospel of life and paid the cost
    of his discipleship, being put to death only days before his camp was
    liberated. ``I believe,'' said Bonhoeffer, ``that God can and wants to
    create good out of everything, even evil.''
        That belief is proven in the history of Europe since that day, in
    the reconciliation and renewal that have transformed this continent. In
    America, very recently, we have also seen the horror of evil and the
    power of good. In the tests of our time, we are affirming our deepest
    values and our closest friendships. Inside this Chamber, across this
    city, throughout this nation and continent, America has valued friends.
    And with our friends we are building that house of freedom for our time
    and for all time.
        May God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:13 p.m. in the Bundestag at the
    Reichstag. In his remarks, he referred to President Johannes Rau,
    Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl of
    Germany.