    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [September 16, 2002]
    [Pages 1586-1592]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Employees of Sears Manufacturing Company in Davenport, Iowa
    September 16, 2002

        Thank you all very much. It's an honor to be here. In 1992, the
    Sears Company got the A team. [Laughter] I'll leave it at that.
    [Laughter]
        I'm honored to be introduced by Jim Leach. He is a distinguished, honorable, honest man. We need
    those kind of people in Washington. I'm proud of him. I'm proud to call
    him friend, and I'm real proud he introduced me. I want to thank other
    members of the Iowa delegation who are here today, starting with Senator
    Chuck Grassley. I appreciate his
    friendship. I appreciate his leadership. I'm also proud to be with Jim
    Nussle and Greg Ganske,
    two Members of the United States Congress from the State of Iowa. We're
    flying back to Washington--I hope the reason they're here is to hear my
    speech, not to get a free ride. [Laughter] Well, we'll find out after I
    give the speech. [Laughter] But these are good folks. They care deeply
    about our country, and so do I.
        I'm here to talk to you about how to make our country safer and
    stronger and better. That's what we've got to be thinking about during
    these troubling times. Before I begin, I'm grateful to Steve
    Lovejoy, who is the director of operation here
    at Sears Manufacturing Company, for giving me the tour--Big Steve.
    [Laughter] I appreciate

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    the employees who greeted me on the assembly line. I want to thank all
    the hard-working people here at Sears for doing such a fine job, for
    working hard, for caring deeply about your families, for upholding your
    responsibilities as a mom or a dad.
        I appreciate the Sears family, Jim and
    Steve and Lisa Ware, for
    upholding a fine family tradition of not only making a quality product
    but remembering they have a responsibility to the employees who work
    here and treat the employees with dignity and respect, like you do. I
    appreciate your leadership.
        I appreciate Bob Lane, the chairman and
    CEO of John Deere, coming over here today to say hello. It's very
    interesting, his comment was. He said, ``I'm fortunate to be a customer
    of this fine company.'' That's a good sign.
        Finally, at Air Force One, I had the honor of meeting a fellow named
    Dean Claussen. You probably don't know Dean.
    [Applause] Dean brought all his cousins with him. [Laughter] The reason
    I wanted Dean to come here with me is because I had the honor of
    thanking him for being a soldier in the army of compassion. He's a high
    school junior. He was obviously raised right by Dale and Kathy, his mom and dad,
    who are with us. But Dean is the kind of person who understands that we
    can change America for the better, one person at a time.
        And so he, as a member of the Scott County
    4-H Council--and he volunteers his time. He volunteers his time to help
    those in need. He is--told me they're raising books for some kids in
    Fiji, that he has recently fed the hungry, that he understands to be a
    citizen of this country is to serve something greater than yourself.
    See, the great strength of the country lies in the hearts and souls of
    our fellow citizens. And when a neighbor loves a neighbor, indeed,
    America as a whole benefits. And Dean, I want to thank you for your
    leadership and your compassion.
        People oftentimes ask me, ``What can I do to help our country in the
    face of some difficult times?'' And one of them is to love a neighbor
    just like you'd like to be loved yourself. If you want to fight evil, do
    some good. If you want to make a impact in the community in which you
    live, find somebody who hurts, and love them.
        I mentioned we've got some big issues here in America, and we do,
    but there's nothing we can't overcome. After all, this is the finest
    country on the face of the Earth, full of the greatest people.
        I think a lot about the security of our homeland. Matter of fact, I
    think about it every single day. And at the same time, it's important
    for Congress and my administration also never to forget the security of
    the American people. You see, my attitude is, somebody who wants to work
    can't find a job, we've got a problem, and we need to deal with it. And
    so, while the security of the homeland is an important priority, so is
    the security of the American worker.
        I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the environment
    for job creation is strong. I want people working. I want people to be
    able to put bread on the table for their families. I want moms and dads
    who want to work to be able to do so, for the sake of their families and
    for the good of the country.
        One of the ways we've got to make sure that we keep our economy
    strong is to be wise about how we spend our money. If you overspend, it
    creates a fundamental weakness in the foundation of economic growth. And
    so I'm working with Congress to make sure they hear the message--the
    message of fiscal responsibility.
        See, it starts with understanding whose money we spend in
    Washington. It's not the Government's money we spend. The money we spend
    is your money, and that's the most important premise when it comes to
    budget.
        It also means that we've got to set priorities. You know, every idea
    sounds like a brilliant idea in Washington. Everybody's

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    idea is a great idea--just up there they come with billions as the price
    tag. The bill is a little high. So I said, ``Why don't we work together
    to create some priorities, starting with the most important priority
    which is, defend America against killers.'' That's the most important
    priority.
        I can't put it any other way about them, either. They're nothing but
    a bunch of coldblooded killers. You've just got to understand that about
    the nature of the enemy. They hate us because we love. They hate. We
    love freedom, is why they hate us, and we're not going to quit loving
    freedom. And so our most important priority, when it comes to budgeting
    and time and effort, is to protect innocent life here in America. And
    make no mistake about it, we will--we'll do just that.
        But in order to make sure there is a--priorities are funded, there
    needs to be a budget. And thanks to Jim Nussle,
    who is the budget man in the House of Representatives, we have a budget
    that focuses on setting priorities and focuses on getting us back to a
    balanced budget. But there's been no budget out of the United States
    Senate. They haven't passed a budget. They have no plan to balance the
    budget.
        And that's of concern. It's of concern because if you have no
    budget, it means there's no discipline. And if there's no discipline,
    it's likely that the Senate will overspend. And when they overspend,
    they not only overspend for this year, this coming year, they'll
    overspend for every year afterwards too. For the sake of fiscal sanity,
    the United States Senate must remember whose money we're spending and
    get us a budget and get us to head toward a balanced budget.
        And while they're worrying about the budget and money, they need to
    give me a defense bill. They need to get--stop talking, and get a
    defense bill to my desk. If the number one priority is to defend the
    American people, the best thing they need to do is pass the defense
    bill, so we can get after defending the American people next year.
        So we've got to worry about how much we spend. And by the way,
    there's plenty of money up there. We've got to worry about how much we
    spend, in order to make sure that our economy continues to grow. I'm
    worried about the economic security for every American. I'm also
    optimistic about the future, because inflation is down, interest rates
    are down, the productivity of the American worker is the best in the
    world, we've got the best farmers and ranchers in the world.
        I've read that textbook, that economic textbook that says, when
    there's a recession--and by the way, when we first came in, there was a
    recession. We had three quarters of negative growth. That's the
    definition of recession. One way to encourage economic growth is to let
    the people keep more of their own money. You see, if you have more money
    in your pocket, you're going to demand a good or a service. And when you
    demand a good or a service, somebody is likely to produce or to make
    that good or produce that service. And when somebody produces the good
    and service, it means somebody is more likely to find work. The tax
    relief plan we passed, which says we trust the American people with
    their own money, came at the right time in American economic history,
    and we need to make the tax cuts permanent.
        I had the honor of saying hello to the head of the construction
    union, the local man who runs the construction union here, at the
    airport. He came out because we're working closely together with the
    head of the national union to get passed what we call terrorism
    insurance. If you're worried about jobs in America, like I am, then
    you've got to make sure that your construction industry is working. You
    want your hardhats out there working. And yet when the terrorists
    attacked us, it created a dilemma for people who want to build big
    building projects. They can't get the insurance necessary to go forward.

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        Congress needs to help on this. Congress needs to pass a bill that
    is good for the hardhats of America, not good for the trial lawyers, and
    get a terrorism insurance bill to my desk, so over 300,000 workers can
    find work and get back to work. I say 300,000--those are the number of
    jobs which have been delayed or scuttled as a result of Congress not
    coming together to act on this important matter.
        And we need an energy bill too. If you're worried about economic
    security in America, we ought to have an energy bill, one which
    encourages conservation, one which encourages renewable sources of
    energy such as ethanol, and one at the same time that makes us less
    dependent on foreign sources of crude oil. It's in our economic
    interests that we have an energy plan. It's in our national security
    interests that we have an energy plan. Congress has been talking about
    energy. They need to get a bill to my desk before they go home to run
    for reelection.
        And so my message to the Congress is, ``Don't forget there are some
    people who are still trying to find work.'' And we need to work
    together. We need to put aside all this Republican stuff and Democrat
    stuff and work together to make sure the economy is strong and vibrant
    and the great American worker can find work.
        And at the same time, we've got to remember that there's still an
    enemy out there trying to hit us. There's an enemy that I mentioned
    earlier, hates what we stand for. It's a different kind of enemy than we
    have fought in the past. These are the kind, they don't have tanks and
    formation of aircraft or flotilla of ship. These are the kind that hide
    in caves and then send somebody to their suicidal death. These are the
    kind that hijack a great religion--a religion, by the way, which
    preaches love and compassion and tolerance--they hijack it and then
    murder in the name of that religion. These are the kind that have hate
    in their heart. And these are the kind that we need to do everything in
    our power to stop. We owe it to the sake of our freedom, and we owe it
    to our children.
        The first thing we've got to do is to make sure our country responds
    here at home to this threat, to this ever--to this threat that just
    keeps going on. And that means that we've got to get our Government
    working in coordination. I proposed a Department of Homeland Security to
    make sure that the agencies involved with securing the homeland have as
    their number one priority your protection. That means that there needs
    to be a single agency where these agencies are housed, so that we create
    a culture of coordination and cooperation, a culture that allows for
    there to be fast movement when it comes to moving people to the right
    place at the right time, in order to respond to an enemy which still
    exists.
        And I'll give you one area where we need to do a better job, and
    that's on our borders. We need to know who's coming into America. We
    need to know what they're bringing into America. We need to know if
    they're leaving when they say they're going to leave America. For the
    sake of the security of the country, we need to have a border which is
    secure, a border which facilitates trade and honest traffic but a border
    which recognizes there--a border--a strategy which recognizes there's
    risks here in the 21st century. We've got to deal with it.
        Now, right now, when you go down to the border, there's three
    different departments dealing with the border, the INS, the Customs, and
    the Border Patrol, all full of fine people. But sometimes the strategy
    differs between the agencies. The uniforms look different, which may be
    all right, but in order to do what's right for the American people, I
    need the capacity to be able to have these agencies work closely
    together. We'll protect workers' rights. We'll protect the collective
    bargaining rights for those who want to join

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    a union at the Federal level. But I need flexibility.
        The House passed a good bill. The Senate better not pass a bad bill.
    Otherwise, I will veto it. They need to worry more about the security of
    the American people and less about special interests in Washington, DC.
        So we're working hard to secure the homeland. There's a lot of fine
    folks that are spending a lot of time on America's behalf. Listen, we're
    sharing information. Anytime we get a hint--and you've seen these
    alerts--sometime these alerts come up because we're getting people
    talking, and we're hearing what they're saying, and we're sharing
    information better. We assess every threat. We take everything
    seriously. And America is responding.
        But the best way to respond to the threats that we face is to find
    these killers, one person at a time, hunt them down, and bring them to
    justice, which is exactly what America is going to do.
        It takes time. It takes a lot of effort. But we're a determined
    nation. You know, I had the feeling that after September the 11th that
    some around the world would grow weary and tired of this effort. Some
    would say, ``Well, the threat really doesn't exist anymore.'' That's not
    how America feels. That's not how that fellow we just picked up in Pakistan feels too. He's the one
    that thought he was going to be the 20th bomber. He thought he could
    hide. He thought he could still threaten America. But he forgot the
    greatest nation on the face of the Earth is after him, one person at a
    time.
        We put together a great alliance. There are other people in this
    world who love freedom just like we do. There are other countries with
    some strong leaders who understand the stakes, that understand that
    history has now put the spotlight on us to find out what we're made out
    of. And so our alliance is strong, and we're hunting them down one at a
    time. We've captured over 2,500 or so of these; about that many weren't
    as lucky.
        Thanks to the United States military--and by the way, those who
    serve our military are some of the finest citizens we have here in
    America. Troops have made a huge sacrifice--they're sacrificing for
    freedom. They fight at mountain--on mountaintops in thin air--they--
    looking down caves. They're slowly but surely doing what I've asked them
    to do, to be on pursuit for the sake of freedom, for the sake of our
    liberty, so your child can grow up in a safe environment.
        And that's why, when I went to the Congress, I asked for a
    substantial increase in defense spending, because I want our troops who
    are placed in harm's way to have the best training, the best pay, the
    best possible commitment. We owe it to them, and we owe it to their
    loved ones. And that defense appropriations bill, which I mentioned
    Congress hasn't passed yet, needs to get to my desk soon--and also sends
    a signal to friend and foe alike, we're in this deal for the long haul.
    When it comes to the defense of our freedom, there is no artificial date
    when we say, we quit. When it comes to securing a future for our
    children and our children's children, we will stay the course.
        And that not only means hunting down Al Qaida and Al Qaida-type
    terrorists which hate America, it also means dealing with true and real
    threats that we can foresee. One of the most dangerous threats America
    faces is a terrorist network teaming up with some of the world's worst
    leaders who develop the world's worst weapons.
        I gave a speech to the United Nations, talking about Iraq and making
    it crystal clear to the United Nations that Saddam poses an international problem. This is a man who
    poisoned his own people, poisoned his neighbors. He's invaded two
    countries. He signed agreements that said he would develop no weapons of
    mass destruction, wouldn't hold any weapons of mass destruction. Yet,
    for 11 years, he's

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    totally ignored what he said he would do. He basically told the United
    Nations, ``Your deals don't mean anything to me.''
        I told the United Nations, it can show us whether or not it's going
    to serve its purpose to help keep the peace, or whether it's going to be
    irrelevant. We, of course, want the United Nations to be relevant. We
    want them to be a part of a framework of peace as we head into the 21st
    century. But I also made it clear, this, that unless there's action from
    the nations at the United Nations, that that's not satisfactory as far
    as the United States is concerned. And if Iraq regimes continues to defy
    us and the world, we will move deliberately yet decisively to hold Iraq
    to account.
        We owe this to our children. We must anticipate. Somebody said,
    ``Well, you know, they don't have a nuclear weapon.'' I said, ``Well,
    the most dangerous thing''--and we know they're trying to get one--``the
    most dangerous thing would be to find out they had a nuclear weapon
    after they developed one.''
        It's a new world we're in. We used to think two oceans could
    separate us from an enemy. On that tragic day, September the 11th, 2001,
    we found out that's not the case. We found out this great land of
    liberty and of freedom and of justice is vulnerable. And therefore we
    must do everything we can--everything we can--to secure the homeland, to
    make us safe. We need a safe America, a strong America, and a better
    America.
        One way to make sure we have a better America is to make sure every
    single child gets educated in this country. I don't mean a few. I don't
    mean only those in suburban districts. I mean every single child. I'm
    proud to have worked with Members of Congress to pass a bill which says,
    here in America, we believe in high standards when it comes to educating
    children, that we will challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations,
    that we believe the people of Iowa should chart the path to excellence
    for the children of Iowa, and that we expect there to be accountability
    in return for Federal money.
        See, we want to know--if you believe every child can learn, then you
    want to know if every child is learning. And if they're not, we'll
    correct the problems early, before it's too late. There are no second-
    rate children in Iowa or in America.
        To make sure there's a better America, we've got to have a place
    where every senior has access to high quality health care. We need a
    Medicare system which works, a Medicare system which recognizes medicine
    has changed and needs to be reformed, a Medicare system which will
    provide better coverage for Iowa's seniors, including prescription drug
    coverage. I look forward to working with Congressman Nussle, Congressman Leach, Senator
    Grassley on the Senate side, to come up
    with a bipartisan effort to make sure this important program, Medicare,
    works for the senior citizens of the State of Iowa.
        And as we think about helping people, we've got to make sure our
    welfare system remembers that work is an integral part of dignity, that
    we want to help people. We want to help them find jobs.
        No, we can make--do a better job of passing legislation that will
    help America be a better place. But the truth of the matter is, like I
    mentioned earlier, America will become a better place when people follow
    their hearts, when people help people in need.
        One of my most important initiatives in Washington is what I call
    the Faith-Based Initiative, because I recognize that Government can hand
    out money, but what it cannot do is put hope in people's hearts or a
    sense of purpose in people's lives. What I want to do is unleash the
    great compassion of America, by changing America one heart, one soul,
    one conscience at a time. You see, when you love a neighbor, you fight
    evil, but you also leave behind a legacy of compassion and decency. It's
    what I call the gathering momentum of millions of acts of kindness and
    decency, which take

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    place in spite of Government. It takes place because our fellow citizens
    have heard the call, the call to personal responsibility.
        One of the things that the enemy did when they hit us is they awoke
    a new spirit in America. It used to be, you know, ``If it feels good,
    just go ahead and do it,'' as part of our culture; ``If you've got a
    problem, blame somebody else.'' America now understands that ushering in
    a period of personal responsibility, responsible for something other
    than yourself, is important for our country.
        If you're a mom or a dad, you're responsible for loving your
    children. You're the one who is responsible for loving your children
    with all your heart. If you're living right here in the great State of
    Iowa, you're responsible for the quality of life in your community. It's
    you who is responsible for making sure your public schools are the best.
    If you find a neighbor in need, you're responsible for serving that
    neighbor in need; you're responsible for loving a neighbor just like
    you'd like to love yourself.
        No, there's a new patriotism here in America. It's more than just
    working on homeland defense. It's more than putting your hand over your
    heart. It is serving something larger than self. And when we all do
    that, we will make it clear to the enemy that not only did they hit a
    great nation, they hit a nation which is compassionate and decent and
    loving.
        No, evil done to America was mighty and tough, and still many
    grieve. But out of that evil can come incredible good. Out of the evil
    done to America can come peace, peace for our children, peace for our
    children's children. And out of evil done to America can come a more
    compassionate and decent and hopeful country. There's no question in my
    mind--no question in my mind--that we will succeed, because this is the
    greatest nation, full of the finest people on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:34 a.m. on the manufacturing floor at
    Sears Manufacturing Co. In his remarks, he referred to Jim Sears,
    president and chief executive officer, Steve Sears, president, truck
    division, and Lisa Ware, director, financial services, Sears
    Manufacturing Co.; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, an Al Qaida operative suspected
    of helping to plan the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, who was
    captured in Karachi, Pakistan; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.