[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.