[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[July 18, 2002]
[Pages 1267-1268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Luncheon With Polish American Leaders in Troy, Michigan
July 18, 2002

    The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks for your warm 
welcome. My fellow club members--[laughter]--thank you all for----

[At this point, there was a disruption in the audience.]

    The President. Yes, sir, thanks. We--the President and I were just in the neighborhood, looking for a 
meal. [Laughter] So I just said, ``Why don't we stop over? I'm a member 
of a club in the area.'' [Laughter] Stan, thanks for remembering my 
membership, and thanks for feeding us.
    I appreciate you all coming out to greet my friend and a friend of 
America, the President of Poland, a 
fine leader and a fine gentleman.
    I want to thank Stan and Sylvia. I want to thank all the folks who put on the dinner 
or--we call it ``dinner'' in Texas--lunch here in Michigan. And I want 
to thank

[[Page 1268]]

my fellow Americans for coming out to say hello.
    We had a wonderful dinner last night in Washington. We all wore our 
black ties. I rented mine right around the corner. [Laughter] But it was 
a wonderful occasion. And as much as I loved it last night, I was really 
looking forward to coming with the President here to Michigan, because there's a lot of great--
there's a lot of great Americans who happen to be from Polish descent 
living here, and I thought it was a perfect place for him to come.
    I want to thank Cardinal Maida for 
coming. He was--he came to dinner last night with us, and he jumped on 
Air Force One. We found plenty of room for him. [Laughter] But he's such 
a--such a dignified human being, and I'm proud to call him friend. And 
thank you for your leadership, sir.
    I want to thank the Englers, our friends the Englers, the great 
Governor and the first lady of the State of Michigan. They've been our friends 
for a long time. I know the Lieutenant Governor is here. I appreciate 
you being here, Dick. Thank you for coming, 
Dick Posthumus. Candice Miller, the secretary 
of state, I appreciate you being here.
    We've got our Ambassador from Poland with us, Christopher 
Hill. He's doing a fine job. Chris, 
thank you for being here.
    We've got a great delegation from the Polish Government with us, 
scattered throughout, I guess. Mr. Minister, thank you for coming. I 
appreciate you all being here.
    I want to just tell you right quickly that America has got a strong, 
strong friend in Poland. The Polish Government and the Polish people 
are--they understand what we went through. They understand--they've had 
a history of people wanting to take away their freedoms too. See, we 
share that common bond.
    And they also understand that we owe it to our children and we owe 
it to future generations beyond our children to hold people to account, 
to hold the killers to account, to bring the killers to justice in order 
to defend our freedoms. And that's what we're going to do.
    Some predicted that the farther we got away from September the 11th, 
the more the American people would grow weary or kind of forget what 
happened. And Mr. President, you need 
to know that's not the case--that's not the case. Anybody attacks us and 
attacks our freedom, we don't forget that. And therefore, Mr. President, 
you're a guest in a country that is united and strong and resolved, 
resolved to keep our coalition together and resolved to defend our 
freedom, no matter what the cost. And Poland understands that, and for 
that we are grateful.
    And so it's been our privilege the last 2 days to welcome the First 
Lady and the President, President 
Kwasniewski, here to the United 
States of America. It's been a great trip, and it's a chance for us to--
chance for me to introduce him to you, my fellow Americans.
    Mr. President, you're among some 
of the finest we have in our country, the good Polish Americans of the 
State of Michigan.
    Would you please welcome the President of Poland.

Note: The President spoke at 12:21 p.m. at the American-Polish Cultural 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Stanley Grot, president, 
American-Polish Cultural Center, and his wife, Sylvia; Adam Cardinal 
Maida, Archbishop of Detroit; Gov. John Engler of Michigan, and his 
wife, Michelle; and Jolanta Kwasniewska, wife of President Kwasniewski. 
The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also 
included the remarks of President Kwasniewski.