[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[September 9, 2002]
[Pages 1562-1564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Implementation of the ``Smart Border'' Declaration and Action 
Plan in Detroit, Michigan
September 9, 2002

    Thank you for joining us today. It's a pleasure to be back in 
Detroit--just across the river from Windsor--to reaffirm a special 
relationship, an important relationship, and to address a common 
challenge. America and Canada face new threats to our security. It's the 
new reality of the 21st century, and we can't forget that. And some of 
those threats must be stopped at our borders. This great and peaceful 
border must be open to business, must be open to people, and it's got to 
be closed to terrorists and criminals. And so today we're taking two 
steps to turn this vision into reality.
    I appreciate so very much the Prime Minister, Jean 
Chretien, for joining us here. He has been a 
steadfast friend. I really enjoy dealing with him on a personal basis. 
He's a plain-spoken fellow with a good sense of humor--probably won't go 
too good up here in Canada, but he'd be a great Texan. [Laughter]
    I appreciate Tom Ridge joining us. Tom is my 
adviser for Homeland Security, former Governor of Pennsylvania. I want 
to thank Tom for working hard with the Deputy Prime Minister John 
Manley from Canada, who--both these two men work 
hard to--[applause]. The Prime Minister and I, 
of course, get the credit if it goes well. [Laughter] They get the blame 
if it doesn't. [Laughter] The truth of the matter is, they did a lot of 
the work, and I want to thank both of you men for working hard for 
what's best for our countries.
    I appreciate so very much the members of our congressional 
delegation who have shown up here, Congressman Joe 
Knollenberg, Carolyn Kilpatrick. I had a chance to say hello to Congresswoman 
Kilpatrick's little boy at the airport. [Laughter] He's doing a fine job 
as the mayor of Detroit. I know she's 
proud of what a fine job he is doing. I want to appreciate very much 
Congressman John Conyers as well and Sandy 
Levin and Nick Smith 
from the--both Republicans and Democrats who share deep concern about 
our border and what transpires here. So I thank the Members of Congress 
for coming today.
    I also appreciate so very much our Ambassador from Canada, Paul 
Cellucci, my close friend, for being 
here as well. Mr.

[[Page 1563]]

Ambassador, thank you for coming. I want to thank Robert Bonner of the Customs, U.S. Customs, for being here, and 
Rob Wright, who's the Commissioner of Canadian 
Customs. Thank you both for coming. I appreciate Jim Ziglar so very much, the head of our INS, for being here. 
He's got a tough job, and he's handling his job in fine fashion. Jim, I 
want to thank you for your service to the country.
    I appreciate very much our friend the Governor from Michigan, John 
Engler, for introducing me. Lieutenant Governor 
Dick Posthumus is with us today. Lieutenant 
Governor, thanks for coming. And Candice Miller, the Michigan secretary of state, is here as well. And 
I want to appreciate all the officials for coming.
    This bridge right here is a symbol of the close and unique 
relationship--close and unique relationship--between our two nations. 
This single bridge carries more trade than any other border crossing on 
this continent, and that's saying a lot. This is a--this is an active 
bridge. Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, more than 
500,000 people and over a billion dollarsMDSU/' worth of goods cross the 
U.S.-Canadian border every day. The ties of trade and travel and family 
between America and Canada are closer than ever, and our countries are 
better for it.
    Yet, nearly a year ago, we saw the terrorists, coldblooded killers, 
using our openness, the openness of our societies against us. We were 
awakened to threats that can arrive across our borders. We realized, at 
least in our country, that we had become a battlefield. And we've got to 
confront those threats. We have no choice but to confront the threats 
head-on, while we preserve the freedom and the openness of our 
societies.
    We have hard-working inspectors at this border, and I want to thank 
all the folks who work hard to expedite the traffic here. I believe my 
job is to--at least on the American side--is to make sure that you're 
able to do your jobs more effectively and to figure out how to use 
technologies and the systems necessary so that you can do your job in a 
better fashion. You see, we want our inspectors to be able to focus on 
the greatest risks, not on legitimate trade and travel. We want their 
time focused on stopping terror, criminality. We've got to recognize 
that inspections create bottlenecks on both sides of this bridge. That's 
one of the realities. When you start looking closer, you're going to 
start creating bottlenecks, and that's not good. It's not good for 
families that want to be together. It's not good for trade and traffic. 
And so we've got to reduce the backups and, at the same time, strengthen 
our mutual security.
    So today Canada and the United States are launching what we call the 
FAST, which stands for Free and Secure Trade. The Prime 
Minister and I got to see the FAST system in 
operation. It says that American and Canadian companies can register 
their goods and their trucks and their drivers with their Governments 
and then border inspectors can review this information up to an hour 
prior to arrival. Once the agents have determined the safety of each 
shipment, the trucks can cross in special lanes, using tested 
technology, technology that the Prime Minister and I just saw. Border 
inspectors will be able to instantly verify the contents and identify 
each truck as it pulls up. Stop times will be reduced from a few minutes 
to seconds, and that's important.
    We're also announcing a second initiative for safer and smarter 
borders that will benefit individual travelers. We're dramatically 
expanding a program to issue special photo identifications to people who 
are screened to ensure they are not security threats to either country. 
These cards entitle people to travel across the border in dedicated 
lanes, where there will be little or no delay for inspections. We're 
trying to help people cross the borders as quickly as possible.
    This kind of program for simplifying travel for thousands of people 
who regularly

[[Page 1564]]

cross the border is now in place in Washington--Washington State and 
British Columbia. And so, starting today, we're launching the program 
here in Detroit, accepting applications from Americans and Canadians who 
want to travel across the border in faster fashion.
    With these two initiatives, we'll ensure faster movement of legal, 
low-risk goods and faster travel for people across our borders. And 
we'll be able to better enhance security. Our inspectors will spend less 
time inspecting law-abiding citizens and more time inspecting those who 
may harm us.
    We're doing everything we can here in America to protect our 
homeland. Along with Canada, we've got some of the finest troops in the 
world hunting down the Al Qaida killers in Afghanistan, hunting them 
down one at a time to make sure we can better secure our respective 
countries.
    And at home I've asked our Congress to join with me to set up a 
Department of Homeland Security so that we can do a better job on our 
borders, a better job with our first-responders. I do not need a bunch 
of rules and regulations trying to micromanage the process. I want the 
ability to be able to look the American people in the eye and say, ``I'm 
doing everything,'' or ``We're doing everything we can to protect you.'' 
And so the Senate, the United States Senate, must not focus on narrow 
special interests but must focus on the security of the American people.
    And so I'm--Mr. Prime Minister, this 
country is doing everything we can to address a common problem, and you 
need to know, sir, that we're determined, and we're patient, and we're 
resolved to win this war against these terrorists, because, like you, we 
love freedom. We value our freedoms. We want to leave a legacy of 
freedom behind for our children and our grandchildren.
    It's now my honor to welcome to the podium a friend, a strong 
leader, the Prime Minister of our important neighbor, Jean 
Chretien.

Note: The President spoke at 11:41 a.m. outside the U.S. Customs cargo 
inspection facility next to the Ambassador Bridge. In his remarks, he 
referred to Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick of Detroit. The transcript 
released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks 
of Prime Minister Chretien.