    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [March 30, 2004]
    [Pages 488-489]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Wisconsin First-Responders in Appleton
    March 30, 2004

        Thank you very much. I was just looking for a salad. [Laughter]
    Thank you all for your welcome. Thanks for letting me barge in. Please
    sit down.
        Ed, thanks for letting me come in to say
    something to our first-responders here in this State. First, I want to
    thank you for your service to our country. We're at war, and we better
    be ready on all fronts. And so the first-responder effort and the
    strategy with the local, State, and Federal government is really an
    important part of making sure that we do everything we can to do our
    solemn duty, which is to protect our fellow citizens from harm.
        We've got a big and vast country, which makes the task particularly
    tough. So the best way to protect our citizens from harm is to find the
    enemy, bring them to justice, to get them before they try to get us. And
    that's exactly what the country is trying to--[applause].
        We're on the hunt. There's a lot of really fine folks wearing this
    Nation's uniform that are making the world and America more safe and
    secure. If you happen to have a relative in the military, you thank them
    on behalf of the Commander in Chief for this job they're doing and for
    the sacrifice that they're making. This military of ours is fantastic.
    It's really got unbelievably capable people. My job is to make sure they
    get the best--the best equipment, the best training. Any time you put
    anybody in harm's way, we have a solemn duty to make sure that they're
    well-equipped. And there are a lot of good folks out there running them
    down right now, and that's exactly what this Government must do and will
    continue to do.
        I am--I just came from giving a speech on the economy, but part of
    the challenges we face is--my job as the Commander in Chief is to
    provide people as direct assessment I can about the future of this
    country. And the problem we face right now is, we love freedom, and
    we're not going to change, and the people that we fight hate freedom.
    That's just the way it is.
        I've always felt that September the 11th was going to be--the type
    of war that started that day was going to be the type of war that I
    constantly have to explain to the American people. It's going to be
    different. I suspect there's some old vets here. It's easy to find
    infantry and airplanes and a flotilla of ships. It's hard to find people
    that are so cold-blooded in their murder that they hide in caves and the
    dark corners of cities. But that's what we're going to do. We're going
    to find them.
        The other thing is, is that you've just got to know that any time
    you see a threat, after September the 11th, you've got to take it
    seriously. It used to be that oceans would protect us, that we could
    say, ``Well, there's a threat over here. We can deal with it if we feel
    like it, but we're protected by oceans.'' September the 11th taught us
    another lesson, that this Nation must always deal with threats before
    they fully materialize, that we've got to--in order to do our duty, in
    order for me to do mine as the Commander in Chief, if we see a threat,
    we'll take action of some kind. Obviously, the military option is the
    last option, not the first.
        But I want to remind you that I saw a threat. I looked at the
    intelligence and saw a threat in Iraq. The United States Congress looked
    at the very same intelligence, and it saw a threat. The United Nations
    Security Council looked at the intelligence, and it saw a threat as
    well. We went back to the United Nations and said, ``Look, this
    guy is a problem. He's a threat. He used gas
    on his own people. He used weapons of mass destruction on his own

    [[Page 489]]

    people. He's a--we've got to take it seriously. September the 11th
    taught us a lesson.'' So we came together and said, ``Look, get rid of
    your weapons, Mr. Saddam Hussein.'' He said, ``No.'' So I was faced with
    a choice: Do I trust the word of a madman, or do I do my duty to defend
    America? And given that choice, I will defend our country every time.
        We're living in historic times. It's a different kind of war, and
    all of us are called to do our part. And I want to thank you. I came by
    to thank--they said there's some people who are on the frontlines of
    helping us secure the country. I said, ``I want to come by.'' I don't
    care about your politics. What I do care about is the fact that you're
    serving, and I wanted to come by and thank you for that. I want to thank
    you for doing everything you can to help somebody, to prepare our
    country. I just want you to know, I'm going to do my part too.
        It's a fantastic country we have. It's a--it's been such an amazing
    experience to see the character of this Nation, a nation which refuses
    to buckle under to the threat of terrorism, a nation which showed
    incredible resolve, a nation in which firefighters were willing to rush
    into burning buildings to save their fellow citizens, a nation also
    which has got an incredible amount of compassion. You know what I'm
    talking about when I talk about people who are willing to love their
    neighbor just like they love themselves in the community in which you
    live. To me, that's the courage of the country which defines us, but
    it's also the heart of the country which defines us as well.
        So thanks for letting me come by to say hi. I'm keeping office hours
    now, so I've got to head back--[laughter]--head back over yonder, as
    they say in Texas. [Laughter] But I, again, want to thank you for your
    service.
        May God bless your work. May God bless your families, and may God
    continue to bless our great country. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:39 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel. In his
    remarks, he referred to Ed Gleason, administrator, Wisconsin Emergency
    Management; and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.