    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [February 5, 2004]
    [Pages 184-190]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina
    February 5, 2004

        Thank you all very much. Thank you all. I am glad to be back in the
    great State of South Carolina. I appreciate you all coming out. I'm so
    honored to have been invited to one of America's great cities,
    Charleston, South Carolina.
         This is one of the busiest container ports in our country. It's an
    important hub of commerce. And we will work to make sure that not only
    is the port strong for economic reasons; we will make sure that the port
    defends the people, is ready to defend against the threats of a new era,
    that this port is secure and safe for not only the people of South
    Carolina but for the people of the great United States of America.
        I appreciate my friend Tom Ridge for becoming
    the first Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He's got a
    big job, and he's doing it well.
        I want to thank Governor Mark Sanford for
    greeting me at the airport and for driving with me to the Port of
    Charleston. Mark is doing a great job for the people of South Carolina.
    I know that the Lieutenant Governor is with us today, Lieutenant
    Governor Andre Bauer. I appreciate you
    coming, Andre.
        I flew down on Air Force One with some of the members of the mighty
    South Carolina congressional delegation, starting with Senator Lindsey
    Graham. He was telling me what to do
    during the entire flight. [Laughter] I appreciate so very much
    Congressman Jim DeMint, Congressman Joe
    Wilson, Congressman Gresham
    Barrett, and the Congressman from this
    district, Henry Brown, for joining us as
    well. These are good, honorable citizens. They're working hard in
    Washington, DC, on behalf of the people of South Carolina. I'm proud to
    call

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    them friend. I'm proud to work with them for the good of the country.
        I appreciate the mayor, Joe Riley, being here
    today. Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming. You're the mayor of a great
    city. Last time I saw the mayor, he said, ``Need I remind you that your
    mother was educated in this great city.''
    [Laughter] No, you didn't need to remind me, Mr. Mayor. She reminds me
    all the time. [Laughter]
        I appreciate my friend Speaker David Wilkins, who has joined us. All the members of the statehouse who
    are here, thanks for coming, State and local officials.
        I want to thank the members of the--oh of course, my friend the
    Adjutant General, Stan Spears, is with us
    today. General, it's good to see you again. I appreciate Commander Gary
    Merrick, Captain Jim Tunstall of the mighty Coast Guard. I appreciate their service
    here, and I want to thank the members of the Coast Guard who are with
    us. I'm proud of the men and women of our Coast Guard, who are always
    ready--always ready to protect the American people.
        I want to thank the members of the Air Force 437th Airlift Wing who
    are with us today. I appreciate the members of the United States Navy
    who are with us today. I thank the cadets from the Citadel who have
    joined us today.
        I want to thank the employees of the Department of Homeland
    Security. Thank you for your work. Thank you for your dedication. Thank
    you for what you're doing to make this part of the world as safe and
    secure as you can.
        I want to thank South Carolina's State and local first-responders
    who are with us, the police and the firefighters and the emergency squad
    personnel.
        But most of all, thank you for coming. I've got some things I want
    to talk about. [Laughter] This country is a strong country, and we're
    rising to meet great challenges.
        The first great challenge is to make sure people can find work. The
    first great challenge of this country is to have a progrowth environment
    so people can find a job. Our economy is growing. It's getting better,
    but I want to remind you of where we have come from. See, people say,
    ``President Bush is optimistic.'' You bet I'm optimistic. I know where
    we have been, and I know where we're going.
        We have--this country went through a recession. And as we were
    coming out of the recession, we got attacked. And make no mistake about
    it, that attack hurt our country's economy. It also--you'll hear me talk
    about how it affected my view of national security as well. It hurt.
        And as we began to recover from that, we discovered that some of our
    fellow citizens forgot what it meant to be a responsible citizen. In
    other words, they didn't tell the truth. They didn't tell the truth to
    their employees, and they didn't tell the truth to their shareholders.
    And that affected the confidence of our economy. By the way, we passed
    laws to hold those corporate criminals to account. They will understand
    now that there is a consequence for not telling the truth.
        And then, of course, there were the uncertainties of war. That
    affected the economy. Yet we're still strong, in spite of the hurdles.
    And one reason we're strong is because we acted in Washington, DC. We
    passed tax relief. You see, we understand that when somebody has got
    more money in their pocket, they're more likely to demand a good or a
    service. And when they demand that good or a service, somebody is more
    likely to produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces that
    good or a service, someone is more likely to be able to find work. The
    tax relief we passed, the willingness to have people have more money in
    their pocket to spend, to save, or invest, is helping this economy
    recover from tough times.
        We also understand that most new jobs are created by small
    businesses. Most new jobs in the American economy are created by the
    entrepreneurs and small-business owners of America. And so the tax
    relief

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    we passed not only helped individuals and helped families raise
    children, but it was also directed at the small-business sector of our
    economy. We must never forget the vital role that small businesses play
    in the United States economy.
        Things are looking good across the country. New home construction in
    2003 was the highest in 25 years. Homeownership rates are the highest
    ever. And for the first time, most minority households own their own
    homes. We're closing the housing gap in America. Manufacturing activity
    is increasing. Inflation is low. Interest rates are low. Exports are
    growing. Productivity is high. Jobs are on the rise. The tax relief we
    passed has made a difference.
        One of the things I know about your great State--I've spent some
    quality time in South Carolina in the past--one of the things I know
    about your great State is this is a State full of decent, hard-working,
    honorable people. You've got a great workforce in the State of South
    Carolina. Many foreign companies and companies from other States move
    here because South Carolina workers are dependable, good people.
        Yet, the State has got economic challenges. Even though the
    unemployment rate is down, it's still too high. Many factory workers in
    textiles and apparel have faced layoffs. But there are new jobs being
    created, and the challenge at all levels of government is to make sure
    that people are trained for jobs which actually exist.
        I laid out what's called the Jobs for the 21st Century program,
    which says to States and local communities, ``We want to help you. We
    want to help you make sure the hard-working people who are looking for
    work have got the skills necessary to take advantage of a changing
    economy.'' The numbers aren't as good as they can be, but they will be
    with focused efforts. They will be so long as Washington promotes a pro-
    entrepreneur, pro-growth agenda. They will be if the Congress makes sure
    the tax cuts we passed are permanent.
        I'm optimistic about our economy's future because the numbers look
    good, but that's not the true reason I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic
    because I understand the entrepreneurial spirit of America. I'm
    optimistic because I know the type of worker we have in this country.
    I'm optimistic because I trust the American people.
        The second great challenge is to fight and win the war on terror.
    After we were attacked in 2001, I said time would pass and people would
    assume that the threats to our country had gone away. That's false
    comfort. The terrorists continue to plot against us. They still want to
    harm us. This Nation will not tire; we will not rest until this threat
    to civilization is removed.
        Part of doing our duty in the war on terror is to protect the
    homeland. That's part of our solemn responsibility, and we are taking
    unprecedented steps to protect the homeland. In the 2005 budget, as the
    Secretary mentioned, we proposed increases in homeland security
    spending, and some of those increases are measures to protect our
    seaports. And that's why I've come to this vital seaport, to remind
    people--to remind the American people, as they pay attention to the
    debates in the Halls of Congress, that we have a solemn duty to protect
    our homeland, including the seaports of America.
        Our National Targeting Center in Northern Virginia, where I'll be
    going tomorrow with the Secretary, is analyzing cargo manifest
    information and focusing frontline inspection on high-risk shipments.
    We're looking at things differently now in America. We're adjusting our
    strategies to better protect the American people.
        We've got a Container Security Initiative, which means we're posting
    officers at foreign ports to identify and inspect high-risk shipments
    before they're loaded and shipped to America. We've extended the reach
    out to make sure America is more secure. We're doing things more wise in
    order to protect our country. We're not waiting for ships and planes to
    arrive.

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    We've got what we call a Proliferation Security Initiative, fancy words
    which means America is working with other governments to track and stop
    the shipments of dangerous weapons and dangerous cargo. We're determined
    to keep lethal weapons and materials out of the hands of our enemies and
    away from our shores.
        We have a duty to protect the American people, a solemn duty. And
    there's a lot of people in this crowd who have heard that duty, and I
    appreciate your service. I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice on
    behalf of the people.
        Another vital tool in the homeland security is for Congress to pass
    laws that enable us to do our job. I'm referring to the PATRIOT Act. The
    PATRIOT Act gives Federal law enforcement the tools they need to seize
    terrorists' assets and disrupt their cells. It removes--the PATRIOT Act
    removed legal barriers that prevented the FBI and the CIA from sharing
    information, information that is vitally needed to uncover terrorist
    plots before they are carried out in America. Imagine a system that
    would not allow people who collect information to share information. It
    makes it awfully hard to protect the homeland if the FBI and the CIA
    can't share data in order to protect us. The PATRIOT Act made that
    possible.
        The PATRIOT Act imposes tougher penalties on terrorists and their
    supporters. We want to send a clear message to people that there will be
    a consequence. For years, we've used similar provisions, provisions that
    are now in the act, to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers. What's in
    the PATRIOT Act today is nothing new. We've been using these provisions
    in the past. If the methods are good enough for hunting criminals,
    they're even more important for hunting terrorists. The Congress needs
    to extend the PATRIOT Act.
        We'll do everything in our power to defend the homeland. Yet, we
    understand this, that the best way to defend the homeland is to stay on
    the offensive. The best way to protect America is to find the killers
    and bring them to justice before they ever harm another American, and
    that's exactly what this administration will continue to do.
        There are thousands of our troops and troops of our friends on an
    international manhunt. We're running down Al Qaida. We're finding them
    where they hide. For our own security, we're bringing them to justice.
    Nearly two-thirds of the Al Qaida leaders have been captured or killed.
    And we're chasing the rest of them. There is no hole deep enough to hide
    from America.
        Part of this new war, this different kind of war, is to confront
    regimes that harbor terrorists, that support terrorists, that could
    supply them with weapons of mass murder. This is an essential part of
    the war on terror. When America speaks, we better mean what we say. And
    I said right after September the 11th, ``If you harbor a terrorist, if
    you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists,'' and the
    Taliban found out exactly what we meant.
        It wasn't all that long ago that Afghanistan was a haven for
    terrorists. This is where many terrorists learned to kill. There were
    training camps, places for them to hide. Thanks to the United States and
    our friends, thanks to the bravery of many of our fellow citizens,
    Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror. Afghanistan is a free
    country.
        America also confronted a gathering threat in Iraq. The dictatorship
    of Saddam Hussein was one of the most brutal,
    corrupt, and dangerous regimes in the world. For years, the dictator
    funded terrorists and gave reward money for suicide bombings. For years,
    he threatened and he invaded his neighbors. For years, he murdered
    innocent Iraqis by the hundreds of thousands. For years, he made a
    mockery of United Nations demands that he account for his weapons. For
    years, Saddam Hussein did all these things. But he won't be doing any of
    them this year. Instead, he's sitting

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    in a prison cell, and he will be sitting in a courtroom to answer for
    his crimes.
        The liberation of Iraq was an act of justice, delivering an
    oppressed people from an evil regime. The liberation of Iraq removed a
    source of violence and instability from the Middle East, and the
    liberation of Iraq removed an enemy of this country and made America
    more secure.
        America and our friends have shown the world that we are serious
    about removing the threats of weapons of mass destruction, and the facts
    are becoming clearer. In Iraq, our Survey Group is on the ground,
    looking for the truth. We will compare what the intelligence indicated
    before the war with what we have learned afterwards. As the chief
    weapons inspector said, ``We have not yet found
    the stockpiles of weapons that we thought were there.'' Yet, the Survey
    Group has uncovered some of what the dictator
    was up to.
        We know Saddam Hussein had the capability
    to produce weapons of mass destruction. He had the scientists and
    technology in place to make those weapons. We know he had the necessary
    infrastructure to produce weapons of mass destruction because we found
    the labs and dual use facilities that could be used to produce chemical
    and biological weapons. We know he was developing the delivery systems,
    ballistic missiles that the United Nations had prohibited. We know
    Saddam Hussein had the intent to arm his regime with weapons of mass
    destruction, because he hid all those activities from the world until
    the last day of his regime.
        And Saddam Hussein had something else; he
    had a record of using weapons of mass destruction against his enemies
    and against innocent Iraqi citizens. Knowing what I knew then and
    knowing what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq.
        We had a choice: Either take the word of a madman, or take action to
    defend the American people. Faced with that choice, I will defend
    America every time. September the 11th, 2001, was a lesson for America,
    a lesson I will never forget and a lesson this Nation must never forget.
    We cannot wait to confront the threats of the world, the threats of
    terror networks and terror states, until those threats arrive in our own
    cities. I made a pledge to this country; I will not stand by and hope
    for the best while dangers gather. I will not take risks with the lives
    and security of the American people. I will protect and defend this
    country by taking the fight to the enemy.
        When you're the Commander in Chief, you have to be willing to make
    the tough calls and to see your decisions through. America is safer when
    our commitments are clear, our word is good, and our will is strong. And
    that is the only way I know how to lead.
        If some politicians in Washington had their way, Saddam
    Hussein would still be in power. All of the
    Security Council resolutions and condemnations would still be issued and
    still be ignored, scraps of paper amounting to nothing. Other regimes
    and terror networks, had we not acted, would have concluded that America
    backs down when things get tough. Saddam would still have his weapons
    capabilities, and life would sure be different for the Iraqi people. The
    secret police would still be making arrests in the middle of the night.
    Prisons and torture chambers would still be filled with victims. More
    innocent Iraqis would have been sent to mass graves. Because we acted,
    Iraq's nightmare is over. Their country, our country, and the entire
    world are better off because the regime of Saddam Hussein is gone and
    gone forever.
        Because of American leadership, the world is changing for the
    better. Other dictators have seen and noted our resolve. Colonel
    Qadhafi in Libya got the
    message and is now voluntarily disclosing and eliminating his weapons of
    mass destruction programs.

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        These are historic times, times of change. In Afghanistan and Iraq,
    more than 50 million people once lived under tyranny. And now they live
    in free societies, societies that are moving toward democracy, societies
    that will set an example for all of the Middle East. And that's
    important. That's important for our own security. Free societies do not
    attack their neighbors. Free societies do not develop weapons of mass
    terror. Freedom and peace go hand in hand. These are great and hopeful
    events, and they came about because America and our allies acted bravely
    in the cause of freedom.
        We know there are challenges ahead. We know that freedom still has
    enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, surviving Ba'athists, the Taliban,
    suicide bombers, and foreign terrorists. All these enemies have one
    goal: They want to stop the advance of freedom and to shake the will of
    the United States of America. But they don't understand us. They don't
    understand the nature of the American people. We will never be
    intimidated by thugs or assassins. The killers will fail, and the people
    of Iraq and Afghanistan will live in freedom. And that's important to us
    in America, because we understand freedom is not America's gift to the
    world. We understand freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and
    woman in this world.
        South Carolina is a State that is really proud of the people who
    wear the uniform. Over 5,000 reservists and National Guardsmen are
    currently deploying in Iraq and Afghanistan and Kosovo and for the
    defense of the homeland. Hundreds of officers from the Citadel are
    serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terror. Like
    everyone who serves in uniform today, these fine citizens of your State
    are protecting this Nation from danger, and they're making us proud.
        I made a commitment to the men and women of our military: America is
    asking a lot of you, and you deserve a lot in return. You deserve our
    praise and our thanks, and we will give you the resources you need to
    fight and win the war on terror.
        So we depend on our military; our people in uniform depend on their
    families. These are challenging times for military families. Some of
    them have experienced great loss. We ask for God's blessings. We ask God
    to give them strength in their time of grief. Our Nation will never take
    their sacrifice for granted. All of us are grateful to the families of
    the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States.
        By the unselfish dedication of Americans in uniform, people in our
    own country and in lands far away can live in freedom and know that--the
    peace that freedom brings. America has been given great
    responsibilities, and those responsibilities have come to the right
    country. By our actions, we have shown what kind of nation we are, a
    good and just and generous people. We don't shrink from any challenge.
    We're rising to the call of history. Now and in the future, this great
    land will lead the cause of freedom and peace.
        May God bless you all. Thank you for coming. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:12 a.m. at the Union Pier Terminal. In
    his remarks, he referred to Gov. Mark Sanford and Lt. Gov. R. Andre
    Bauer of South Carolina; Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., of Charleston, SC;
    David H. Wilkins, speaker, South Carolina House of Representatives; Maj.
    Gen. Stanhope S. Spears, Adjutant General of South Carolina; Comdr. Gary
    W. Merrick, USCG, commanding officer, Coast Guard Marine Safety Office,
    Charleston, SC; Capt. Jim Tunstall, USCG, commander, USCG Group
    Charleston; David Kay, former CIA Special Advisor for Strategy Regarding
    Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs; and Col. Muammar Abu Minyar
    al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya.

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