[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

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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

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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

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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.