[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[September 11, 2002]
[Pages 1570-1572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Address to the Nation From Ellis Island, New York, on the Anniversary of 
the Terrorist Attacks of September 11
September 11, 2002

    Good evening. A long year has passed since enemies attacked our 
country. We've seen the images so many times, they are seared on our 
souls, and remembering the

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horror, reliving the anguish, reimagining the terror is hard and 
painful.
    For those who lost loved ones, it's been a year of sorrow, of empty 
places, of newborn children who will never know their fathers here on 
Earth. For members of our military, it's been a year of sacrifice and 
service far from home. For all Americans, it has been a year of 
adjustment, of coming to terms with the difficult knowledge that our 
Nation has determined enemies and that we are not invulnerable to their 
attacks.
    Yet, in the events that have challenged us, we have also seen the 
character that will deliver us. We have seen the greatness of America in 
airline passengers who defied their hijackers and ran a plane into the 
ground to spare the lives of others. We've seen the greatness of America 
in rescuers who rushed up flights of stairs toward peril. And we 
continue to see the greatness of America in the care and compassion our 
citizens show to each other.
    September the 11th, 2001, will always be a fixed point in the life 
of America. The loss of so many lives left us to examine our own. Each 
of us was reminded that we are here only for a time and these counted 
days should be filled with things that last and matter: Love for our 
families, love for our neighbors, and for our country; gratitude for 
life and to the Giver of life.
    We resolved a year ago to honor every last person lost. We owe them 
remembrance, and we owe them more. We owe them and their children, and 
our own, the most enduring monument we can build, a world of liberty and 
security made possible by the way America leads and by the way Americans 
lead our lives.
    The attack on our Nation was also attack on the ideals that make us 
a nation. Our deepest national conviction is that every life is 
precious, because every life is the gift of a Creator who intended us to 
live in liberty and equality. More than anything else, this separates us 
from the enemy we fight. We value every life. Our enemies value none, 
not even the innocent, not even their own. And we seek the freedom and 
opportunity that give meaning and value to life.
    There is a line in our time and in every time between those who 
believe that all men are created equal and those who believe that some 
men and women and children are expendable in the pursuit of power. There 
is a line in our time and in every time between the defenders of human 
liberty and those who seek to master the minds and souls of others. Our 
generation has now heard history's call, and we will answer it.
    America has entered a great struggle that tests our strength and, 
even more, our resolve. Our Nation is patient and steadfast. We continue 
to pursue the terrorists in cities and camps and caves across the Earth. 
We are joined by a great coalition of nations to rid the world of 
terror. And we will not allow any terrorist or tyrant to threaten 
civilization with weapons of mass murder. Now and in the future, 
Americans will live as free people, not in fear and never at the mercy 
of any foreign plot or power.
    This Nation has defeated tyrants and liberated death camps, raised 
this lamp of liberty to every captive land. We have no intention of 
ignoring or appeasing history's latest gang of fanatics trying to murder 
their way to power. They are discovering, as others before them, the 
resolve of a great country and a great democracy. In the ruins of two 
towers, under a flag unfurled at the Pentagon, at the funerals of the 
lost, we have made a sacred promise to ourselves and to the world: We 
will not relent until justice is done and our Nation is secure. What our 
enemies have begun, we will finish.
    I believe there is a reason that history has matched this Nation 
with this time. America strives to be tolerant and just. We respect the 
faith of Islam, even as we fight those whose actions defile that faith. 
We fight not to impose our will but to defend

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ourselves and extend the blessings of freedom.
    We cannot know all that lies ahead. Yet, we do know that God has 
placed us together in this moment, to grieve together, to stand 
together, to serve each other and our country. And the duty we have been 
given, defending America and our freedom, is also a privilege we share. 
We're prepared for this journey, and our prayer tonight is that God will 
see us through and keep us worthy.
    Tomorrow is September the 12th. A milestone is passed, and a mission 
goes on. Be confident. Our country is strong, and our cause is even 
larger than our country. Ours is the cause of human dignity, freedom 
guided by conscience and guarded by peace. This ideal of America is the 
hope of all mankind. That hope drew millions to this harbor. That hope 
still lights our way. And the light shines in the darkness. And the 
darkness will not overcome it.
    May God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 9:01 p.m. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.