    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [September 17, 2002]
    [Pages 1607-1611]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at East Literature Magnet School in Nashville
    September 17, 2002

        Thank you all for coming. Thanks for that warm welcome--really warm
    welcome. [Laughter] Across America today, Americans are reciting 31
    world--words that help define our country. In one sentence, we affirm
    our form of government, our belief in human dignity, our unity as a
    people, and our reliance on Providence.

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        And this pledge takes on a special meaning in a time of war. Our
    enemies hate these words. That's what you've got to understand. They
    hate the words, and they want to erase them. We're determined to stand
    for these words and live them out in our lives. Our allegiance has never
    been stronger. We've never been more determined. And we must work to
    teach our children to love our Nation as much as we do.
        I want to thank you all for coming today. I particularly want to
    thank our Secretary of Education for traveling with me, Rod
    Paige. I picked Rod out of a lot of really
    good candidates because I wanted somebody to be in Washington who had
    actually been on the frontlines of educating every child. We didn't need
    any more theory in Washington. We needed people that had actually done.
    And when we talk about raising the bar and challenging the soft bigotry
    of low expectations, so that every child can learn, when we talk about
    having an accountability system to make sure no child is left behind,
    our Secretary of Education has actually done it. He ran one of the
    largest school districts in my State, our State, and he did so with
    class and dignity. And the children of Houston, Texas, are better off
    for it. Mr. Secretary, thank you for coming.
        I'm also proud to be sharing the stage with another superintendent,
    Pedro Garcia. Mucho gusto, Pedro. Pedro is a
    good leader. It's very interesting--we were talking before we came out
    here and Pedro was a part of what they call Operation Pedro Pan--
    Operation Peter Pan. So, by the way, was a member of my Cabinet, Mel
    Martinez. When both Pedro and Mel were young
    men, their parents wanted their children to grow up in freedom, so they
    put them on an airplane to a foreign land. They had great faith in
    America, faith--so much faith in the ideals of our country that they
    were willing to trust their teenage children with a stranger in a
    foreign country. And they came and were loved. I don't know about,
    Pedro, whether your mom and dad came, but Mel's mother and daddy came.
        And I want you all to remember these stories about Pedro, who's now your superintendent of school, or
    Mel, who's in my Cabinet, that this country
    offered so much hope and so much promise, because we believe so strongly
    in freedom that people such as the Garcias and the Martinezes were
    willing to give up their children so they could grow up in a free
    society. I love the story of Pedro Pan. I love the job you're doing, and
    I wish you all the best.
        And I'm also so appreciative for Kaye, Kaye Schneider, the principal of East Literature Magnet School, for
    opening up this school. She said it's been an amazing experience. I bet
    it has, with all these--[laughter]--all these advance people and all the
    entourage here. But thanks for opening up this great school. I'm here
    because this is a center of excellence, a school that refuses to leave
    any child behind, and it starts with having a good, solid, sound
    principal. So Kaye, thank you very much.
        I want to thank all the teachers who are here. Thank you for taking
    on a noble profession. Old Sam Houston, he used to live in Tennessee.
    And at one time he had been the Governor of Texas and a Senator from
    Texas. And he was a famous Tennessee guy, and he was a President of the
    Republic of Texas. And they said, ``Of all the jobs you've ever had,
    Sam, what was the most important one?'' He said, without hesitation,
    ``teacher,'' because he had been a teacher.
        I want to thank the mothers and dads who are here. Thank you for
    coming. You too are teachers. The best education starts at home, by
    loving your children with all your heart and all your soul. I want to
    thank the students who are here. Thanks for letting me come by and visit
    with you.
        I appreciate so very much elected officials who have come today:
    Senator Fred Thompson, Senator Bill
    Frist, Congressman Zach Wamp, Congressman Van Hilleary,

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    Congressman Bob Clement, Congressman Bart
    Gordon, Congressman Ed Bryant. I want to thank your mayor, Bill Purcell, for coming as well, the mayor of Nashville. Thank my
    friend Lamar Alexander for being here.
        But most of all, I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to
    come and share some thoughts. It is very important for our youngsters to
    understand history, the history of our country, the ideals that make our
    country strong. This morning in the Rose Garden I kicked off a national
    initiative, and I'm going to describe some of what we're going to do to
    make sure that we teach more history to our children.
        Especially important in a time of war that our children understand
    the context of why we fight. You see, ours is a history of freedom. One
    of the most precious ideals we have is freedom for everybody. We love
    our freedoms. We love the idea of being a free society. And throughout
    our history, people have fought for freedom. Whether it's been in the
    Revolutionary War or the heroic struggle to end slavery or civil rights
    wars in the United States Congress or whether it's World War II where we
    fought to free people from tyranny, the history of this Nation has been
    a history of freedom and justice.
        Our children are growing up in a difficult time for America, because
    they see on their TV screens the fact that America is now a battlefield.
    When we were kids, or a lot of us were kids, growing up, oceans
    separated us from danger. We were confident in our ability to resist
    evil because evil could never make it to our shore, unless it was
    created internally. But now we've entered a new period where we're
    vulnerable. It's tough for our children to comprehend that, I know.
        But you've got to understand why we're vulnerable, and that is
    because there are people in the world that hate the fact that we love
    freedom. People cannot stand the fact that your great Nation not only
    allows but encourages people to worship an almighty God in any way they
    want to. We welcome that in America.
        We speak our mind freely. All you've got to do is remember it's an
    election year. [Laughter] We believe in a free press. And we're not
    going to change. We love our freedoms. Our history has taught us that.
    And today, we love them just as strongly as others in the past have.
        The other thing the children are learning is the notion of people
    serving something greater than themselves in life. You know, I think one
    of the most defining moments of the recent American history was Flight
    93. Flight 93 is an amazing lesson. Laura and I had the honor of going
    to the site there in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the other day to hug and
    cry and visit with and smile with--if they wanted to smile--with the
    family members of those brave souls who were on that airplane.
        But it's a lesson of people loving freedom so much and loving their
    country so much, that they're willing to drive a plane into the ground
    to save other people's lives. What a powerful message, that part of
    being an American is to serve something greater than yourself, part of
    being a citizen in this great land is to not only take from the land but
    to give.
        So today, when you realize there are military people looking in
    caves in Afghanistan or moving around the world to try to fight tyranny
    and terrorism, they do so to serve something greater than themselves,
    because of a strong ideal, a strong sense of purpose, a strong sense of
    country.
        You've got to understand there are some in this world that simply do
    not adhere to the ideals we believe in. In Iraq, they don't put their
    hand over their heart and say, ``Liberty and justice for all.'' They
    don't believe in liberty. The dictator who runs Iraq doesn't believe in
    justice. He only believes in liberty and justice for those who he
    decides get liberty and justice.
        There's a lot of talk about Iraq on our TV screens, and there should
    be, because we're trying to figure out how best to make

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    the world a peaceful place. There's an old saying in Tennessee--I know
    it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee--that says, fool me once, shame
    on--shame on you. Fool me--you can't get fooled again. You've got to
    understand the nature of the regime we're dealing with. This is a man
    who has delayed, denied, deceived the world. For the sake of liberty and
    justice for all, the United Nations Security Council must act, must act
    in a way to hold this regime to account, must not be fooled, must be
    relevant to keep the peace.
        Part of the American history teaches us that we must lead toward a
    more peaceful world. Part of the history of the world shows that as
    threats develop, we must deal with them before they become too acute,
    unmanageable. Part of our history is, is that we're a peaceful people.
    We love and long for peace, that we want peace for generations to come.
    But sometimes we must act in order to achieve the peace.
        And all our history says we believe in liberty and justice for all,
    that we see oppression, we cry; that when we found out that young girls
    in Afghanistan could not go to school because they were in the clutches
    of one of the most barbaric regimes in the history of mankind, we acted
    not only to uphold doctrine and to fight the war against terror, we
    acted to liberate people. Our history shows that we're not a nation
    which conquers. We're a nation which liberates.
        History is important for our children to understand, to give them a
    better sense of how to understand what we do and a sense of what it
    means to be an American, a sense of importance of serving something
    greater than yourself in life.
        The first initiative that we're going to put out is called We the
    People, which will encourage American history and civic education all
    around the country. There will be a grant program to encourage the
    development of good curricula and a lecture series and essays by high
    school students on liberty and justice and freedom.
        We've got a great store of documents here in America, and so we're
    going to put out a program called Our Documents. The national Archivist
    is going to work with us to make sure all of the archives of America are
    now online, so schools can easily tap in to find out how our history
    developed through the archives of the country. It ought to be a really
    interesting way for our students to learn more about America.
        We're going to have a White House forum there in Washington, DC--
    obviously, that's where the White House is--in January or February of
    next year, to call in experts as to how better teach our history, and at
    the same time, teach the ideals that make us a great nation. We're going
    to do our part at the Federal level. It's very important that you all do
    your part here in Nashville, Tennessee, and insist upon good civics
    lessons, the true lessons of history, to make sure our children
    understand the ideals that make us great.
        And one of the things our youngsters and those of us not quite so
    young can do--and this is important--is to celebrate patriotism by
    loving your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. You see, it's
    important to realize that one person can't do everything to change
    America, but one person can do something. Every child who hurts, who
    receives your love, is part of changing America for the better, is part
    of fighting evil with acts of kindness and decency.
        I met Harry Ingle, Jr., at Air Force
    One. He's an East Literature Magnet student. He's a junior. He was out
    there because he is involved with mentoring children. He's a soldier in
    the army of compassion here in Nashville, Tennessee. He's a part of the
    true strength of America, which is neighbor loving neighbor, those of us
    who are on our feet helping those who aren't on their feet. He's a part
    of the light that can help shine into corners of darkness where there
    may be despair and addiction and loneliness.

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        No, part of patriotism is not just to put a hand over our heart, but
    part of being a patriot is to serve the ideals of this country by
    serving something greater than yourself. I want the students here to
    understand that this great Nation of ours longs for peace, but we also
    want to practice compassion. And you can be a part of the compassionate
    future by helping somebody in need.
        It is an honor to be here at this fine school, in this fine city, in
    this great State, to celebrate with millions of students all across the
    country the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge across America. It is my
    honor to be here to remind people of the great ideals of the greatest
    country on the face of the Earth.
        May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:05 p.m. in the school's auditorium. In
    his remarks, he referred to Pedro Garcia, director of schools,
    Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools; Mayor Bill Purcell of Nashville;
    and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.