    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [July 18, 2002]
    [Pages 1264-1267]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Polish American Community in Rochester, Michigan
    July 18, 2002

        The President. Thank you very much.
        So I was telling the President of Poland, I said, ``There's a lot of smart people in
    Washington, but not all the brains are in Washington. Why don't we get
    on the airplane and come out and see some other smart Americans?'' It's
    an honor to be here. I want to thank you for coming. I appreciate the
    warm hospitality that you've shown me and my friend.
        We had a heck of a dinner last night. It was a black-tie dinner, and
    I had the honor of sitting next to the First Lady of Poland. And it dawned on me after the dinner that
    he and I share a lot, starting with
    the fact that we both married really well. [Laughter] The First Lady of
    Poland sends her best, and so does the First Lady of America, my great
    wife, Laura Bush.
        I appreciate John and Michelle
    Engler. John mentioned that she is of Polish
    heritage. He forgot to say she's got some Texas blood in her too. But
    I'm proud to call John and Michelle friends. I'm happy that
    Aleksander got to meet my friends
    here who have been doing such a fine job of running this State.
        I want to thank Gary Russi, the host, the
    president of Oakland University. I know it's not easy to host an
    entourage, choppers and all the things that fly in here. But I want to
    thank you for providing this fantastic forum, a chance for us to talk
    about our mutual visions for a peaceful world. So I want to thank all
    those who helped here at Oakland to make this a successful trip.
        I want to thank the Lalewiczes. That
    would be the lady--the fantastic young lady who sang ``The Star-Spangled
    Banner'' and her brother, Peter. I told the
    President he's going to see a budding star singing our

    [[Page 1265]]

    national anthems, and she didn't let us down. I want to thank you,
    Olivia, very much for being here.
        I appreciate some of the good folks who work here in Michigan. The
    Lieutenant Governor, Dick Posthumus, is here.
    Candice Miller is supposed to be here
    somewhere. I appreciate Candice--is the Michigan secretary of state.
        I want to thank the Polish delegation. We've got a lot of the
    leadership who are involved in the President's Government. They've
    traveled with us from Washington today. I want to thank you all for
    coming. I'm honored you're here.
        Our Ambassador from Poland is here, Chris Hill. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. You're doing a fine job. I
    appreciate you coming.
        I mean, when the President of Poland shows up, all the officials show up. We've got not
    only Federal officials and State officials, we've got L. Brooks
    Patterson, the Oakland County executive.
    We've got the mayor of Detroit. Mayor Kilpatrick, thank you for coming. I want to thank the mayor of
    Rochester for being here as well.
    Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming. I'm honored you're here, and the mayor
    of Rochester Hills is here as well.
        And I want to thank you all for coming. It's an honor that you're
    here. We're thrilled you're here. It gives us a chance to talk about our
    vision for a peaceful world. There's a lot of war talk these days, as
    there should be, but it's all aimed at making sure the world is
    peaceful, peaceful not only for children here in America but peaceful
    for children in Poland as well. And it's kind of you all to give us a
    chance to come and to visit.
        When we landed our chopper out there on the playing fields--or some
    kind of field--[laughter]--I know it was a field--[laughter]--we were
    met by two really fine Americans, Helen Suchara and Erin Chekal. Now they're
    here, and I want them to stand up here in a minute. But I want to
    describe to you their hearts. First, you'll see that Helen has lived a
    full life. But in the early nineties, she decided to go to Poland as a
    Peace Corps volunteer. She decided to take American values to her--the
    homeland of her ancestry, to talk about democracy and freedom, those
    very same values which the country embraces today. And Erin Chekal
    wanted to do the same thing. And so we've got two generations of
    Americans with us today who have volunteered their time to make not only
    America a better place but to help the country they love, Poland, become
    a better place. And I want you to welcome them. Thank you all for
    coming. [Applause]
        Mr. President, the strength of
    our Nation is not our balance sheet; it's not our military. The strength
    of our Nation is the American people. The American people are generous
    people. They're kind people. They're courageous people. The true
    strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of Americans from all
    walks of life.
        It has been such an honor to welcome the President here to America. Laura and I went to Warsaw, by
    the way, as his guest and had a fantastic experience. We were--the
    people were great, and it was a wonderful time for us to begin a
    friendship that's an important friendship today.
        And the friendship, though, between Poland and America goes back a
    long way. As Governor Engler mentioned, Poles
    fought for American independence, and in the century past, we had the
    privilege and honor of helping Poland fight for her independence. We had
    the honor of repaying the favor, because we love freedom, and so do the
    Polish people. America is proud to call Poland a friend, a partner, and
    an ally.
        The people of Poland and the people of America share strong bonds of
    kinship and culture and commerce. The sons and daughters of Poland, many
    of whom I'm pleased we have here today, Mr. President, have been enriching America throughout our entire
    history. [Applause] There's one

    [[Page 1266]]

    or two sons here. Listen, they've contributed to every walk of life, Jan
    Karski, Ed Muskie, Bronko Nagurski. We had dinner last night with one, a
    great Polish American, Stan Musial. All
    throughout our society, Polish Americans have made a tremendous
    contribution, Mr. President, and we're proud of that contribution. As a
    matter of fact, it's the contributions from people from all walks of
    life which make America not only a unique nation but a strong nation.
        Poland has given a lot to America, and Poland has given a lot to the
    world. For 50 years, the people of Poland waged an heroic struggle for
    freedom. For 50 years, they set an example of what it means to love
    freedom. It was Polish courage and conscience that caused an evil empire
    to fear freedom and eventually bring down the evil empire.
        And Poland has given the world one of the greatest figures of the
    last century. The moral authority and iron integrity of a Polish
    Pope have stirred the forces of freedom
    throughout the world. Everyone who believes in human rights and human
    life and human dignity owes a great debt to Pope John Paul II. And I
    want to thank one of his most distinguished representatives here in
    America, His Eminence Cardinal Maida,
    for being with us today as well.
        Poland is an example to all of Europe. After all, it's a strong
    democracy with a market economy. It's a force for stability within
    Europe, and it's a nation prepared to play an influential role on the
    world stage.
        Five years ago, the United States proudly supported Poland's bid to
    join NATO. This year, Poland and the United States will meet in Prague
    and support NATO membership for all of Europe's democracies ready to
    share in NATO's responsibilities.
        In this age, in this era, America needs allies who share the same
    views about the world's opportunities. We need allies who understand the
    world's dangers. When America was attacked, NATO and Poland, led by this
    good man, immediately declared that an attack on one of us was an attack
    on all of us. You need to know that Poland is standing strong--I mean,
    strong--alongside America in the war on global terror.
        Poland has--Poland----
        Audience members. Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop the war!
        The President. Poland has deployed troops to Afghanistan, has shared
    intelligence, and cracked down on terrorist financing. You need to know
    that the United States of America will track the terrorists down one by
    one and bring them to justice. [Applause] Thank you all.
        Mr. President, the people of
    America are deeply grateful for your support and the support of the
    people of Poland. See, a lot of people in our country, and perhaps
    yours, wonder why would, why would an enemy--by the way, nothing bunch
    of--nothing but a bunch of coldblooded killers--strike America. And Mr.
    President, it's because they fear freedom. See, we believe in freedom of
    speech. We believe in freedom of the press. Like you, we love freedom,
    and if somebody attacks our freedoms, we'll stand tough and strong.
        No, we're bound together in this war on terror. This
    President understands what I know,
    that we've entered a new type of war. We're hunting down people that
    will hide in a cave but send youngsters to their death--that's what
    they'll do. These are international criminals, and we're going to treat
    them like international criminals. We're going to get them on the run,
    and we're going to keep them on the run until we bring them to justice.
        We owe it to history; we owe it to our children and our
    grandchildren. Anytime anybody wants to affect the freedom of our
    people, they must pay a price, not because we seek revenge but because
    we seek justice.
        I was explaining to the President
    yesterday that I've submitted a mighty hefty increase in our defense
    spending. I did so because anytime an American President commits one of
    our troops into battle or

    [[Page 1267]]

    into harm's way, that person deserves the best training, the best pay,
    the best equipment possible. And Mr. President, this significant
    increase, the largest since Ronald Reagan was the President, shows the
    world, shows our friends, and as importantly, shows the enemy that the
    United States is a determined, resolved nation. It doesn't matter how
    long it takes. There are no calendars on our desks in Washington that
    say, by such-and-such a moment we've got to quit. That's not how we
    think, Mr. President, and you know that. The increase in the defense
    budget says that we're in this for the long haul, that we owe it to a
    lot of people to be patient and resolved.
        Mr. President, I'm telling you
    that this country is united. We understand this isn't a Republican war,
    a Democratic war. This is a war that will test the soul and conscience
    and strength of the American people. And Mr. President, America will
    meet the test.
        We are united. We're a united country, and we're united with Poland.
    We will not permit the future to be defined by fear and chaos and
    hatred. We will define a future of greater development of democracy and
    a future of tolerance. We'll stand together, and, make no mistake about
    it, we will defeat global terror.
        When I spoke to the faculty and students at Warsaw University last
    year, I said the question no longer is what others can do for Poland,
    but what America, Poland, and all of Europe can do for the rest of the
    world. Working together, we will build greater prosperity and greater
    hope to people of our respective nations and people all across the
    globe.
        Poland has a leader it can trust.
    He's a good man. He's a man I'm proud to call friend. I'm proud to bring
    him to the great State of Michigan. I'm proud to introduce him to you.
    Ladies and gentlemen, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the Athletics Center at
    Oakland University. In his remarks, he referred to President Aleksander
    Kwasniewski of Poland, and his wife, Jolanta Kwasniewska; Gov. John
    Engler of Michigan, and his wife, Michelle; Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of
    Detroit; Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr., of Rochester; Mayor Pat
    Somerville of Rochester Hills; baseball Hall of Fame member Stanley F.
    Musial; and Adam Cardinal Maida, Archbishop of Detroit. The transcript
    released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks
    of President Kwasniewski.