    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [March 22, 2006]
    [Pages 541-558]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the War on Terror and a Question-and-Answer Session in
    Wheeling, West Virginia
    March 22, 2006

        The President. Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Thanks for
    coming. First of all, Terry, thanks for the
    invitation. My purpose is to share with you what's on my mind, and then
    I look forward to hearing what's on yours.
        I regret only one thing, Terry, and
    that's that Laura didn't come with me. No, I
    know, most people generally say, ``You should have brought her, and you
    should have stayed at home.'' [Laughter] They love Laura, and so do I.
    And she is a fantastic First Lady. She is a great--[applause]. And she
    is a great source of comfort and strength for me, and I wish she were
    here.
        I want to thank the Chamber and the Board of Directors of the
    Chamber for allowing me to come. You know, I'm--as Terry said, I'm the Commander in Chief; I'm also the educator
    in chief. And I have a duty to explain how and why I make decisions, and
    that's part of the reason I'm here.
        I want to thank your Governor for being here. Joe Manchin is a--he's a good, decent man. He showed his heart
    during the mine tragedies. He asked the country--[applause]. He
    represented the best of West Virginia. He showed great compassion, great
    concern. He asked the Nation to pray on behalf of the families. We still
    must continue to pray for those who lost their loved ones. Joe is a
    problem-solver, see. He said, ``We're going to deal with this issue head
    on.'' And I appreciate you working closely with the Federal Government
    to make sure that there are safety regulations that work, that the
    inspection process works so that the miners here in this important State
    are able to do their job and their families can be secure in them doing
    their job.
        So, Joe, thank you very much for your
    leadership. Thanks for bringing Gayle. Like
    you, I married well too. [Laughter]
        I appreciate Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito. Thanks for being here. I appreciate working with you.
    She's a good one, as we say in Texas. [Laughter] I probably shouldn't
    bring up Texas too much today, given the fact--yeah, I know--[laughter].
    Never mind. [Laughter] I'm a little worried for my Longhorns, though, I
    tell you that. I'm fully informed that they're going to play a fine
    team.
        I want to thank the mayor for being here. Mr. Mayor, I'm honored that you were at the airport. I
    appreciate you coming. Thanks for serving your great community. God
    bless you, sir.
        Members of the statehouse greeted me. I appreciate Senator Mike
    Oliverio. He's here. Mike, I think, did
    the country a great service when he worked on behalf of Judge Sam
    Alito to get him approved by the United
    States Senate. I appreciate your--I want to thank you for that, Mike. I
    want to thank--Mike said, ``Don't hold it against me; I'm a Democrat.''
    I said, ``Mike, what we--first and foremost, we're all Americans.''
        I thank Chris Wakim. He also was out
    at the airport. It's a little chilly for you all standing out there
    without your overcoats on, but it's all right. Thanks for being here,
    Chris. Thanks to all the members of

    [[Page 542]]

    the statehouse and local officials who've joined us today. Thank you for
    serving your State and your community.
        I want to thank John Anderson and Janis
    LaFont. They're from the--Valley National Gases
    employees. They presented me with a check for $100,000 for the Katrina
    Relief Fund. They represent--[applause]. I want to thank you all for
    doing that, and I want to thank the folks you work with for doing that.
        It's an amazing country, isn't it, when you think about it, that
    folks right here in this part of West Virginia care enough about folks
    in the southern part of our country that they would take some of their
    hard-earned money and contribute to a relief fund so people can get
    their lives back together. It means a lot to the people in Louisiana and
    Mississippi to know that there is love and compassion for their--and
    concern for their lives, here in West Virginia.
        Ours is an incredible nation. And you're going to hear me talk about
    our military. And if you ask questions about the economy, you'll hear me
    talk about our economy. But I want to remind everybody that the true
    strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens. That's
    where America is its greatest, and I appreciate you representing that.
        I met a woman named Kristen Holloway at
    the airport. Kristen, where are you? There you go. Gosh, you thought you
    had a better seat, but nevertheless--[laughter]. She came out to say
    hello. I had a chance to thank her for her being the founder of
    Operation Troop Appreciation. She has decided to support those who wear
    our uniform in any way she can. Listen, I understand war is
    controversial, and I'm going to talk about the war. But America has got
    to appreciate what it means to wear the uniform today and honor those
    who have volunteered to keep this country strong.
        It doesn't matter whether you agree with my decision or not. But all
    of us should agree with the fact that we have a remarkable country, when
    people who know that they're going to be sent into harm's way raise
    their hand and say, ``I volunteer to serve.'' And no State has
    presented--had more people volunteering to serve than the great State of
    West Virginia. Now, they'll say, maybe some States have more people, but
    they got greater populations. But 75 percent of your National Guard has
    gone into harm's way, and we appreciate that service. And I want to
    thank those of you who wear the uniform for your service. I want to
    thank your loved ones for supporting those who wear the uniform. And I
    want you to hear loud and clear, the United States of America stands
    with you and appreciates what you're doing.
        The enemy, a group of killers, struck us on September the 11th,
    2001. They declared war on the United States of America. And I want to
    share some lessons about what took place on that day. First of all, I
    knew that the farther we got away from September the 11th, 2001, the
    more likely it would be that some would forget the lessons of that day.
    And that's okay. That's okay, because the job of those of us who have
    been entrusted to protect you and defend you is really to do so in such
    a way that you feel comfortable about going about your life, see. And
    it's fine that people forget the lessons. But one of my jobs is to
    constantly remind people of the lessons.
        The first lesson is, is that oceans can no longer protect us. You
    know, when I was coming up in the fifties in Midland, Texas, it seemed
    like we were pretty safe. In the sixties it seemed like we were safe. In
    other words, conflicts were happening overseas, but we were in pretty
    good shape here at home. And all that was shattered on that day, when
    coldblooded killers hijacked airplanes, flew them into buildings and
    into the Pentagon, and killed 3,000 of our citizens. In other words,
    they declared war, and we have got to take their

    [[Page 543]]

    declaration of war seriously. The most important responsibility of the
    Commander in Chief and those who wear the uniform and those who are
    elected to public office is to defend the citizens of this country. That
    is our most vital and important responsibility. I have never forgotten
    that, from September the 11th on. It's just been a part of my daily
    existence.
        Secondly, the best way to defend America is to stay on the offense.
    The best way to protect you is to rally all the strength of National
    Government--intelligence and military, law enforcement, financial
    strength--to stay on the offense against an enemy that I believe wants
    to hurt us again. And that means, find them where they hide and keep the
    pressure on and never relent and understand that you can't negotiate
    with these folks. There is no compromise; there is no middle ground. And
    so that's exactly what we're doing.
        And there's some unbelievably brave troops and intelligence officers
    working around the clock to keep an enemy that would like to strike us
    again, on the move and to bring them to justice. And we're making
    progress about dismantling Al Qaida. Al Qaida, after all, was the enemy
    that launched the attacks.
        The second part of a lesson that we must never forget is the enemy,
    in that they're not a nation-state--in other words, they don't represent
    a nation-state like armies and navies used to do--need safe haven. They
    need places to hide so they can plan and plot. And they found safe
    haven, as you all know, in Afghanistan. And they were supported by a
    government that supports their point of view, which is a government that
    absolutely can't stand freedom. That was the Taliban. If you were a
    young girl growing up under the auspices of the Taliban, you didn't have
    a chance to succeed. You couldn't go to school. If you dissented in the
    public square, you'd be in trouble. If you didn't agree with their dark
    vision, whether it be religion or politics, you were in trouble. In
    other words, they can't--they couldn't stand this concept of a free
    society--and neither can Al Qaida. See, we're dealing with ideologues.
    They have an ideology.
        Now, I understand some say, ``Well, maybe they're just isolated,
    kind of people that are angry and took out their anger with an attack.''
    That's not how I view them. I view them as people that believe in
    something; they have an ideological base. They subverted a great
    religion to meet their needs, and they need places to hide. And that's
    why I said early on in the war that if you harbor a terrorist, you're
    equally as guilty as the terrorist--understanding the nature of the
    enemy and understanding they need safe haven. In order to protect
    ourselves, we must deny them safe haven.
        By the way, if the President says something, he better mean it, for
    the sake of peace. In other words, you want your President out there
    making sure that his words are credible. And so I said to the Taliban,
    ``Get rid of Al Qaida, or face serious consequences.'' They didn't, and
    they faced serious consequences, and we liberated Afghanistan. We
    removed the Taliban from power. We've denied Al Qaida safe haven. And
    that young country, that young democracy is now beginning to grow; 25
    million people are liberated as a result of the United States defending
    itself. And that's important for us to realize, that not only are we
    defending ourselves, but in this instance, we've given chance to people
    to realize the beauties of freedom.
        There's an interesting debate in the world is whether or not freedom
    is universal, see, whether or not--let's say, ``There's old Bush
    imposing his values.'' See, I believe freedom is universal. I believe
    liberty is a universal thought. It's not an American thought; it is a
    universal thought. And if you believe that, then you ought to take great
    comfort and joy in helping others realize the benefits of liberty. The
    way I put it was, there is an Almighty God. One of the greatest gifts of
    that Almighty God is the desire for people to be

    [[Page 544]]

    free, is freedom. And therefore, this country and the world ought to
    say, ``How can we help you remain free? What can we do to help you
    realize the blessings of liberty?''
        Remember, as we debate these issues--and it's important to have a
    debate in our democracy, and I welcome the debate--but remember, we were
    founded on the natural rights of men and women. That speaks to the
    universality of liberty. And we must never forget the origin of our own
    founding as we look around the world.
        Afghanistan--I went there with Laura. We had
    a good visit with President Karzai. I like
    him--good man. You can imagine what it's like to try to rebuild a
    country that had been occupied and then traumatized by the Taliban.
    They're coming around. They got elections. They had assembly elections.
    He himself was elected. We expect them to honor the universal principle
    of freedom. I'm troubled when I hear--deeply troubled when I hear the
    fact that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to
    account. That's not the universal application of the values that I
    talked about. Look forward to working with the Government of that
    country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to
    worship.
        There's still a Taliban element trying to come and hurt people. But
    the good news is, not only do we have great U.S. troops there, but NATO
    is now involved. One of my jobs is to continue to make sure that people
    understand the benefits of a free society emerging in a neighborhood
    that needs freedom. And so I'm pleased with the progress, but I fully
    understand there's a lot more work to be done.
        Another lesson of September the 11th, and an important lesson that
    really does relate to the topic I want to discuss, which is Iraq, is
    that when you see a threat now, you got to take it seriously. That's the
    lesson of September the 11th--another lesson of September the 11th. When
    you see a threat emerging, you just can't hope it goes away. If the job
    of the President is to protect the American people, my job then is to
    see threats and deal with them before they fully materialize, before
    they come to hurt us, before they come and strike America again.
        And I saw a threat in Iraq. I'll tell you why I saw a threat. And by
    the way, it just wasn't me. Members of the United States Congress in
    both political parties saw a threat. My predecessor saw a threat. I
    mean, my predecessor saw a threat and got the Congress actually to vote
    a resolution that said, ``We're for regime change.'' That's prior to my
    arrival. The world saw a threat. You might remember, I went to the
    United Nations Security Council; on the 15-to-nothing vote, we passed
    Resolution 1441 that said to Saddam Hussein,
    ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' We saw a threat.
        I'll tell you why I saw a threat. I saw a threat because, one, he'd
    been on the state--he was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, our
    Government--not when I was President, prior to my Presidency--declared
    Saddam Hussein to be a state sponsor of
    terror. Secondly, I know for a fact he had used weapons of mass
    destruction. Now, I thought he had weapons of mass destruction; Members
    of Congress thought he had weapons of mass destruction; the world
    thought he had weapons of mass destruction. That's why those nations
    voted in the Security Council. I'm finding out what went wrong. In other
    words, one of the things you better make sure of, is when you're the
    President, you're getting good intelligence, and obviously, the
    intelligence broke down. But he had that capacity to make weapons of
    mass destruction as well. He had not only murdered his own people, but
    he had used weapons of mass destruction on his own people.
        That's what we knew prior to the decision I made. He also was firing on our aircraft. They were enforcing a
    no-fly zone, United Nations no-fly zone. The world had

    [[Page 545]]

    spoken, and he had taken shots at British and U.S. pilots. He'd invaded
    his neighborhood. This guy was a threat. And so the world spoke. And the
    way I viewed it was that it was Saddam Hussein's choice to disclose,
    disarm, or face serious consequences. And he made the choice, and then I
    was confronted with a choice. And I made my choice. And the world is
    better off without Saddam Hussein in power.
        The biggest threat America faces is that moment when terror and
    weapons of mass destruction come together. And if we ever suspect that's
    happening, we got to take--deal with that threat seriously. Committing
    our troops into harm's way is the most difficult decision a President
    can make. I'm going to meet with some--two families of those who lost a
    loved one. It's my duty to do so. I'm looking forward to being able to
    hug them, weep with them. And so for anybody out there in West Virginia
    who thinks it's easy to commit troops--it's hard. It's the last option
    of the President, not the first option. The first option is to deal with
    things diplomatically, is to rally the world to send a clear message
    that the behavior, in this case, of Saddam Hussein, was intolerable. And we did that.
        Now the fundamental question is, can we win in Iraq? And that's what
    I want to talk about. First of all, you got to understand that I fully
    understand there is deep concern among the American people about whether
    or not we can win. And I can understand why people are concerned. And
    they're concerned because the enemy has got the capacity to affect our
    thinking. This is an enemy who will kill innocent people in order to
    achieve an objective. And Americans are decent, honorable people; they
    care. We care about human life. We care about human dignity. We value
    life. We value the life of our own citizens, and we value the life of
    other citizens. And so it's easy for an enemy that is willing to kill
    innocent people to affect us.
        The enemy has told us their objectives in Iraq. And I think it's
    important for the Commander in Chief to take the words of the enemy very
    seriously. They have said that they want to spread their philosophy to
    other parts of the Middle East. They have said that. They have said they
    want to attack us again. They believe that democracies are soft, that
    it's just a matter of time for the United States to lose our will and
    create a vacuum in Iraq, so they can use their terror techniques and
    their willingness to kill to develop a safe haven from which to launch
    attacks. That's what the enemy has said. This is--I hope the citizens of
    this country understand that we have intercepted documents, and we put
    them out for people to see. And I take the words very seriously.
        Iraq is a part of the global war on terror. In other words, it's a
    global war. We're dealing with a group of folks that want to spread an
    ideology, and they see a problem developing in Iraq, and so they're
    heading into Iraq to fight us, because they can't stand the thought of
    democracy, see. Democracy trumps their ideology every time. Freedom and
    democracy represent hope; their point of view represents despair.
    Freedom represents life and the chance for people to realize their
    dreams; their philosophy says, ``You do it my way or else.'' And so
    they're trying to fight us in Iraq.
        And we have a strategy for victory in Iraq. It's a three-pronged
    strategy, starting with--it's politics; it is a--it's security; and it's
    economy. On politics, was to get the people to the polls to see if they
    even cared about democracy; just give them a chance to vote; see what
    the people thought. And you might remember the elections; it probably
    seems like an eternity. It was just a year ago that they started
    voting--a little more than a year, in January of last year. And the
    first election round came off okay, but the Sunnis didn't participate.
    They were a little disgruntled with life there. They liked their
    privileged status, and they were boycotting the elections. Then they

    [[Page 546]]

    wrote a Constitution, which is a good Constitution. It's a progressive
    Constitution for that part of the world. More people came out to vote
    than last December. About 75 percent of the eligible voters said, ``I
    want to be free; I want democracy. I don't care what Mr.
    Zarqawi and his Al Qaida killers are
    trying to do to me; I'm going to defy them and go to the polls.''
        And the people have spoken. And now it's time for a government to
    get stood up. There's time for the elected representatives--or those who
    represent the voters, the political parties, to come together and form a
    unity government. That's what the people want; otherwise, they wouldn't
    have gone to the polls, would they have?
        I spoke to our Ambassador today and
    General Casey, via video conferencing,
    and we talked about the need to make it clear to the Iraqis, it's time;
    it's time to get a government in place that can start leading this
    nation and listening to the will of the people. It's a little hard. You
    can imagine what it's like coming out of the--having been ruled by a
    tyrant. People are--when you spoke out
    before, no telling what was going to happen to you; it generally wasn't
    good. And now people are beginning to realize democracy has taken hold.
        By the way, if you look at our own history, it was a little bumpy on
    our road too. You might remember the Articles of Confederation. They
    didn't work too well. It took us a while from the moment of our
    Revolution to get our Constitution written, the one that we now live by.
        The second part is to help people with their economy. And we had to
    change our strategy there. We first went in there and said, ``Let's
    build some big plants.'' The problem was, the big plants served as big
    targets for those who are disgruntled, the terrorists who are going into
    Iraq to use it as a safe haven plus some of their allies, the
    Saddamists. These were Saddam's inner-circle
    buddies and stuff like that that had received special privileges. They
    weren't happy that they were no longer in privileged status. And so they
    were destroying some of the infrastructure we were building. So we
    changed our strategy and said, ``Look, why don't we go with smaller
    projects, particularly in the Provinces, so people can begin to see the
    benefits of what it means to have a democracy unfold.''
        And the third aspect is security. When we got in there, it became
    apparent to our troops on the ground that we had a lot of training to
    do. We had to really rebuild an army to make sure that people had the
    skills necessary to be able to fight off those who want to stop the
    march of democracy. First, we trained the army for threats from outside
    the country. But we realized the true threats were inside the country,
    whether it be the Saddamists, some Sunni rejectionists, or Al Qaida that
    was in there torturing and killing and maiming in order to get their
    way.
        And we're making progress when it comes to training the troops. More
    and more Iraqis are taking the fight. Right after the bombing of the
    Golden Mosque, for example, is an interesting indication as to whether
    or not the Iraqi troops are getting better.
        The enemy can't defeat us militarily, by the way. They can't beat us
    on the field of battle. But the only thing they can do is they can
    either try to stop democracy from moving--they failed on that. Last
    year, they failed. Their stated objective was just not to let democracy
    get going, and they flunked the test. Now they're trying to foment a
    civil war. See, that's the only way they can win. And they blew up the
    mosque. And there was some awful violence, some reprisals taking place.
    And I can understand people saying, ``Man, it's all going to--it's not
    working out.'' But the security forces did a pretty good job of keeping
    people apart.
        In other words, it was a test. It was a test for the security
    forces, and it was a test for the Iraqi Government. The way I like to
    put it is they looked into the

    [[Page 547]]

    abyss as to whether or not they want a civil war or not and chose not
    to.
        That's not to say we don't have more work to do, and we do. But it's
    important for me to continue--look, I'm an optimistic guy. I believe
    we'll succeed. Let me tell you this--put it to you this way: If I didn't
    think we'd succeed, I'd pull our troops out. I cannot look mothers and
    dads in the eye--I can't ask this good marine to go into harm's way if I
    didn't believe, one, we're going to succeed, and two, it's necessary for
    the security of the United States.
        And it's tough fighting. It's tough fighting, because we got an
    enemy that's just coldblooded. They can't beat us militarily, but they
    can try to shake our will. See, remember, I told you, they have said
    that it's just a matter of time, just a matter of time before the United
    States loses its nerve. I believe we're doing the right thing, and we're
    not going to retreat in the face of thugs and assassins. [Applause]
    Thank you.
        It's the Iraqis' fight. Ultimately, the Iraqis are going to have to
    determine their future. They made their decision politically; they
    voted. And these troops that we're training are going to have to stand
    up and defend their democracy. We got work, by the way, in '06 to make
    sure the police are trained as adequately as the military, the army.
    It's their choice to make. And I like to put it this way: As they stand
    up, we'll stand down.
        But I want to say something to you about troop levels, and I know
    that's something that people are talking about in Washington a lot. I'm
    going to make up my mind based upon the advice of the United States
    military that's in Iraq. I'll be making up my mind about the troop
    levels based upon recommendations of those who are on the ground. I'm
    going to make up my mind based upon achieving a victory, not based upon
    polls, focus groups, or election-year politics.
        I talked about a city named Tall `Afar the other day in a speech I
    gave in Cleveland. Just real quick, it's an important place. It's a
    place where--close to the Syrian border, where Al Qaida was moving the
    terrorists from outside the country inside the country, trying to
    achieve their objective. And right after we removed Saddam
    Hussein, they started moving in. And I cannot
    describe to you how awful these people treat the citizens there. I mean,
    they are--I told a story about a young boy who was maimed, taken to a
    hospital, was pulled out of the hospital, was killed by the terrorists.
    His dad went to retrieve him on the side of the road, and they put a
    bomb underneath him and blew up the family. I mean, Americans cannot
    understand the nature--how brutal these people are. It's shocking what
    they will do to try to achieve their objectives.
        But it really shouldn't shock us when you think about what they did
    on September the 11th. It's the same folks, same attitude, same frame of
    mind. But they're able to lock down cities, particularly those that are
    worried about their security, and so they basically took control of Tall
    `Afar. So our troops went in with Iraqis and cleaned it out. The
    problem--[applause]--oh, not through yet. [Laughter] A little early on
    the clap. [Laughter] The problem was, we continued to pursue the enemy,
    and they moved back in, these killers and murderers moved back in and
    just created a mess. I mean, they--I said in my speech, they mortared
    children in a playground. They recruited young kids, abused them,
    violated them. There's one boy in particular who told our guys, once the
    city eventually got liberated, his dream was to behead somebody with a--
    anyway, we started working with the local folks again. This time,
    though, we had trained more Iraqi Army ready to go.
        And the difference in the story between the first time we liberated
    Tall `Afar from them and the recent liberation was that the Iraqis were
    in the lead. And not only were they in the lead, they stayed behind
    after we left. So our troops are chasing

    [[Page 548]]

    high-value targets and training--and capable Iraqi forces are providing
    security. And so the day of terror began to change when they saw capable
    forces and a new mayor and police forces.
        I mean, this is--it's hard to put ourselves in their--the shoes of
    the folks in this town that had been traumatized. But the strategy of
    clear, hold, and build began to create a sense of confidence. And what's
    interesting is I can say that--I got one data point that I can share
    with you--the vote in the January '05 election was the second-lowest
    vote in the--as percentage of voting population, in the country, and the
    last vote, 85 percent of the eligible voters voted. In other words,
    people had a sense of security and hope.
        A free Iraq is important for the United States of America. It was
    important to remove a threat; it was important to deal with threats
    before they fully materialized. But a free Iraq also does some other
    things: One, it serves as an amazing example--it will serve as an
    amazing example for people who are desperate for freedom.
        You know, this is, I guess, quite a controversial subject, I readily
    concede, as to whether or not the United States ought to try to promote
    freedom in the broader Middle East. Our foreign policy before was just,
    kind of, if the waters looked calm, great. Problem is, beneath the
    surface was resentment brewing, and people were able to take advantage
    of that, these totalitarians, like Al Qaida. So I changed our foreign
    policy. I said, freedom is universal; history has proven democracies do
    not fight each other; democracies can yield peace we want, so let's
    advance freedom. And that's what's happening.
        It's a big idea, but it's an old idea. It's worked in the past. I
    strongly believe that by promoting liberty, we're not only protecting
    ourselves, but we're laying the foundation of peace for a generation to
    come. And I'll tell you why I believe that, and then I'll answer
    questions. Thank goodness Laura isn't here; she'd
    be giving me the hook. [Laughter]
        Two examples that I use that are obviously--well, I'm living one
    example, and that is my relationship with the Prime Minister of Japan.
    He is one of my best buddies--I don't know if you're supposed to call
    them ``buddies'' in diplomacy or not, but anyway--one of my best buddies
    in working to keep the peace. I find that a really interesting statement
    to say to you, knowing my own family's history--18-year-old--my
    dad, when he was 18, went to fight the
    Japanese. I think it's really one of the interesting twists of history
    that I stand here in West Virginia saying to you that Prime Minister
    Koizumi and I talk about ways to keep the
    peace, ways to deal with North Korea--he's helping in Iraq--ways to deal
    with other issues. And 60 years prior to that, when the country called,
    George H.W. said, ``I want to go,'' just like, I'm sure, relatives of
    you all. And Japan was a sworn enemy. And there was a lot of bloodshed
    in order to--remember, they attacked us too. And yet today, the
    President says, ``We're working to keep the peace.'' And what happened?
    It's an interesting lesson that I hope people remember. Something
    happened. What happened was, Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy.
        I believe freedom and liberty can change enemies into allies. I
    believe freedom has the power to transform societies. It's not easy
    work; it's difficult work. But we've seen history before. I know you've
    got relatives who were in World War II. On that continent, hundreds of
    thousands of Americans lost their lives in two world wars during the
    1900s. And yet today, Europe is whole, free, and at peace. What
    happened? Democracies don't war. And so part of my decisionmaking that
    I'm trying to explain to you today, about war, about what you're seeing
    on your TV screens, about the anxiety that a lot of our citizens feel,
    is based upon, one, the need to protect the American people and my deep
    reservoir of commitment to doing what it takes--to look

    [[Page 549]]

    at the world realistically, to understand we're in a global war against
    a serious enemy.
        But also my thinking is based upon some universal values and my
    belief that history can repeat itself and that freedom and liberty has a
    chance to lay a foundation of peace so that maybe 40 years from now,
    somebody is speaking here in West Virginia saying, ``You know, a bunch
    of folks were given a challenge and a task, and that generation didn't
    lose faith in the capacity of freedom to change, and today, I'm able to
    sit down with the duly elected leaders of democracy in the Middle East,
    keeping the peace for the next generation to come.''
        That's what I've come to talk to you about, and that's what's on my
    mind. And now I'll be glad to answer any questions you got.
        Yes, sir. First man up.

    Support for the U.S. Armed Forces

        Q. Mr. President, I'm going to make your job a little easier on you.
    To sum it all up, what you're trying to say is, when it comes to
    fighting terrorism, there is no easy button.
        The President. Thank you, sir. I'll be glad to answer any question
    on any subject, but I always appreciate a good editorial. [Laughter]
        Q. Mr. President----
        The President. Yes, sir. Hold on for a second. We're going to do it
    a little more orderly here. Right here. Right there. Yes, there you go.
    Get moving on the mike, please. [Laughter] Generally what happens if
    they don't have a mike, the guy yells the question, and I just answer
    whatever I want to answer. [Laughter]
        Q. Mr. President, I have a son that's Special Forces in Iraq. And I
    have another son that's in the Army. He left college to join the Army.
    He's out in Hawaii. He's got the good duty right now. [Laughter] But I
    thank God that you're our Commander in Chief. And I wouldn't want my
    boys--[applause].
        The President. Okay, thanks.
        Q. Again, I thank God you're our Commander in Chief. You're a man
    for our times. And I'm a supporter of yours, and I think it's good that
    you come out and tell your story. And I think you need to keep doing
    more of it, and tell the story and the history of all this. And God
    bless you, and I thank you for your service.
        The President. Well, I appreciate you saying that. A couple of
    points. First, you tell your kids thanks. The good news is, for moms and
    dads and husbands and wives and children, that in spite of the debate
    you're seeing in Washington, that there is a commitment to support our
    troops when we--when they're in harm's way. There may be an argument
    about tactics and whether or not we should have done it in the first
    place; I understand that. But the Congress has stood up, and that's what
    Congress should do. And take comfort, please, sir, in knowing that the
    debates that you're seeing will not lessen our Government's support for
    making sure the people are well-trained, well-paid, well-equipped, well-
    housed. We owe that. And I'm pleased with the congressional response to
    supporting troops.
        Second, you can e-mail them. It's an interesting war we have, where
    moms and dads and wives and husbands are in touch with their loved ones
    by e-mail. It's really interesting.
        And I want to thank you very much for saying what you said. I am--as
    I said, I'm educator in chief, and I'm going to spend a lot of time
    answering questions and just explaining--explaining to people as clearly
    as I can about why I made decisions I made and why it is important for
    us to succeed.
        And again, I understand debate. I understand there's differences of
    opinion, and we should welcome that in America. People should never fear
    a difference of opinion, particularly on big matters. And war is a big
    matter, war and peace. And it's healthy for our country for people to be
    debating,

    [[Page 550]]

    so long as we don't send the wrong signals to our troops, so long as
    they don't think that we're not behind them, and so long as we don't
    send mixed signals to the enemy. The enemy believes that we will weaken
    and lose our nerve. And I just got to tell you, I'm not weak, and I'm
    not going to lose my nerve. I strongly believe that we're doing the
    right thing.
        Do you want to say something, Joe?
        Governor Joe Manchin III. Yes.
        The President. How about your Governor?
    Make it easy.

    Alternative Sources of Energy

        Gov. Manchin. [Inaudible]
        The President. Yes, I appreciate it.
        Joe talked to me about how do we use
    the natural resources of the State of West Virginia in such ways to
    become less dependent on oil. Now, let me talk about that, starting with
    coal gasification leading to coal liquefication. I appreciate the
    subject.
        I know it shocked some of you--I know it shocked some of you when I
    stood up in the State of the Union and said, ``We got a problem; we're
    addicted to oil.'' Texas, you know, the whole thing--[laughter]. I'll
    tell you why I said it. I'll tell you why I said it. One, because when
    the demand for fossil fuels goes up, for nonrenewable resources goes up
    in other parts of the world, it affects the gasoline price here at home.
    When somebody else's economy starts to boom and they start using more
    fossil fuel, it affects your price too. It's important for people to
    understand. And there are some new economies emerging that are growing
    and that need and use--that are using a lot of hydrocarbons.
        Secondly, we get oil from parts of the world that don't like us, is
    the best way to put it, which creates a national security issue. And
    therefore, it is in our economic interest and national interest that we
    get off of our addiction to oil. We import about 60-something percent of
    our oil from overseas. What Joe is talking
    about is a different use of resources to help us achieve that objective.
        First thing is, we got a lot of coal, 250-year supply of coal, which
    helps us on our electricity. And we're spending a lot of money on clean
    coal technology. The whole idea is to use taxpayers' money to develop a
    technology that will enable us to have zero-emission plants, which will
    help us achieve a environmental objective, as well as an energy
    independence objective.
        Joe is talking about spending research
    money on the gasification of coal, which then will lead to the
    liquefication. In other words, we're able to develop a product that way.
    And I believe we ought to attack this issue on all fronts, on a variety
    of fronts. I know we ought to use nuclear power. It is a renewable
    source of energy that has got zero greenhouse gas effect.
        And by the way, I went to a plant that's making solar panels,
    photovoltaic cells--not bad for a history major. [Laughter] Technologies
    are coming. And to me, it makes sense to work with Congress to spend
    money on new technologies aiming for a national objective.
        The place where we're really going to affect reliance upon oil is
    changing our automobile--how automobiles are powered. One is, battery
    technologies are coming around. One of these days, I am told, that if we
    continue to stay focused in research, you're going to be able to have a
    pretty good-sized vehicle, plug it in, and it'll be able to drive 40
    miles before you need to use any gasoline in your engine. Now, that's
    not going to help some of you rural folks in West Virginia or Texas, but
    it's going to help urban people who generally tend not to drive more
    than 40 miles a day. But imagine if we're able to have battery power
    where you plug your battery into--when the electricity is down, low
    usage at night, and they drive 40 miles. That will save--that will
    reduce demand for gasoline, which reduces demand for crude oil.

    [[Page 551]]

        Secondly, we're going to be able to drive our cars based upon--with
    a sugar base or a corn base or saw grass. I said that one day--what the
    heck is saw grass? It's just grass. It just grows out there, and you
    bulk it for them. And the idea is to develop technology so that we're
    using more ethanol. It's happening in the Midwest, by the way. They've
    got what they call E-85--that's 85 percent ethanol--that's powering
    automobiles now. A whole new industry is beginning to grow. And the more
    we use alternative sources of energy, the less dependent we are on oil.
        So Joe has been--Joe is always
    thinking, and he's a practical fellow, which is sometimes not the case
    in government. [Laughter] But what he's saying is, ``Can't we use our
    resources here, in a way, Mr. President, that helps you achieve a grand
    national objective, which is getting off Middle Eastern oil?'' And the
    answer is, yes, we can.
        Yes, you got a question? Are you in school?

    Civilian Nuclear Power Program in India/Iran

        Q. Yes.
        The President. Good. Did you use me as an excuse to skip school?
        Q. Of course. [Laughter] Mr. President, I was wondering, actually,
    how you felt about America's double standard on nuclear energy, as far
    as countries like Iran, India, and Israel go?
        The President. Yes, I appreciate that. I may ask you to clarify your
    question of ``double standard.''
        Q. Well, how we don't allow Iran to have nuclear energy, yet we're
    supporting India.
        The President. Yes. No, I got it, good, good, good.
        Q. And Israel's nuclear weapons----
        The President. I wouldn't--I wouldn't necessarily--well, first of
    all, let me explain the policy, and then you can draw whatever
    conclusion you want. First of all, it's in our interests that India use
    nuclear power to power their economic growth because, as I told you,
    there is a global connection between demand for fossil fuels elsewhere
    and price here. And so I went to India, and I said--actually, it's a
    very sophisticated question, by the way--but I said, we ought to
    encourage you to use nuclear power.
        Now, the difficulty with that issue, and that Congress is going to
    have to deal with, is that India has heretofore been denied technologies
    from the United States because of previous decisions they made about
    nuclear weaponry. My attitude is that over 30 years, they have proven
    themselves to be a nonproliferator, that they're a transparent
    democracy. It's in our interest that they develop nuclear power for--to
    help their economy grow. They need power, and they need energy to do so,
    and they're willing to go under the safeguards of the IAEA, which is an
    international forum to make sure that there are certain safeguards.
        Iran--the Iranians are a nontransparent society. They're certainly
    not a democracy. They are sponsors of terrorism. They have joined the
    IAEA, and yet we caught them cheating. In other words, they weren't
    upholding the agreements, and they started to try to enrich uranium in
    order to develop a weapons program. India is heading to the IAEA; the
    Iranians are ignoring IAEA.
        And so to answer your question about potential conflict of civilian
    energy power, I have said that I support the Russian proposal that says
    the Iranians should have a civilian nuclear industry; however, Russia
    and other suppliers would give them the enriched--the product
    necessarily to power their industry and collect the spent fuel but not
    enable the Iranians to learn how to enrich in order to develop a weapons
    programs. That's, I think, how--hold on for a second--oop, oop, oop.
    [Laughter] That's how we addressed the inconsistency on the power side,
    apparent inconsistency.
        However, in that the Iranians are nontransparent, in that they are
    hostile to the United States and hostile to allies, we've

    [[Page 552]]

    got to be very careful about not letting them develop a weapon. And so
    we're now dealing with this issue diplomatically by having the Germans
    and the French and the British send a clear message to the Iranians,
    with our strong backing, that you will not have the capacity to make a
    weapon, the know-how to make a weapon. Iran with a nuclear weapon is a
    threat, and it's dangerous, and we must not let them have a weapon.
        Yes.

    Voluntarism

        Q. Sir, thank you for being in West Virginia. I'm the recruiting
    commander of the West Virginia Army National Guard. And there are a lot
    of National Guardsmen here with you in Wheeling today. West Virginians
    are a proud and very patriotic people. I'd like for you to share with us
    what you would say to a young person today who would like to join the
    National Guard, and maybe give some encouraging words in that respect.
        The President. Okay, thanks--kind of doing your job for you. All
    right. [Laughter] My statement to all Americans is, serve your country
    one way or another. I--and service can be done by wearing the uniform.
    Wearing the uniform is a fantastic way to say, ``I want to serve my
    country.'' A lot of people have chosen that way, and it's a rewarding
    experience to wear the uniform. If you want to go to college, it's a
    good way to gain some skills to help you in your education.
        There are also other ways to serve. You can mentor a child, and
    you're serving America. You can help the Katrina victims, and you're
    serving America. You can be a Boy Scout troop leader, and you're serving
    America.
        What's really interesting about our country--and I said this early
    on--is the notion of people coming together to serve a concept greater
    than themselves. It is--I know it's not unique to America, but it
    certainly helps define our spirit. De Tocqueville, who's a French guy,
    came in 1832 and recognized--and wrote back--wrote a treatise about what
    it means to go to a country where people associate voluntarily to serve
    their communities. And he recognized that this--one of the great
    strengths of America--this is the 1830s--it is still the strength of
    America. It is a vital part of our society and our communities, the idea
    of people volunteering to help a neighbor in need.
        And one of my jobs is to honor people who are serving our country
    that way, and to call other peoples to service as well. As you know, one
    of the interesting and at times controversial proposals was whether or
    not Government should open up grant money for competitive bidding for
    faith-based organizations. I'm a big believer in providing grant money
    available for faith-based organizations, so long as the money doesn't go
    used--to be used to proselytize, but is used to help serve a purpose,
    like if your mother or dad is in prison, that it would help to go find a
    mentor for that child. Or if you're a drug addict or got hooked on
    alcohol, that you could redeem the Government help at a faith-based
    institution.
        In other words, we in government ought to be asking the question,
    does the program work? And a lot of times, programs based upon faith do
    work, that it is--there's nothing better than a faith-based program
    which exists to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    And therefore, one of my jobs is to not only help recruit for the Guard,
    which--put a plug in there for you--[applause]--there you go--but also
    to call other--to call people to serve, to help change our society one
    person at a time. And it's happening. It's a remarkable part of the--I'm
    confident--of this community, just like it is all around the United
    States. And thanks for your question.
        Yes, sir. Yes, the guy in the yellow hat. Give it to the guy on the
    aisle. Well, no, you're not a guy. [Laughter] Right behind you; there
    you go.

    [[Page 553]]

    Religious Freedom/Afghanistan

        Q. President Bush, I'm a professional firefighter here in Wheeling,
    West Virginia.
        The President. Thank you, sir.
        Q. And back during 9/11, I lost over 300 of my brothers in New York.
    And I was glad that you were our President at that time and took the
    fight to the terrorists. But as I see, you said earlier about the guy in
    Afghanistan that is going to convert to Christianity, he may get killed
    over there for doing that. Do you have an army of sociologists to go
    over there and change that country, or are you hoping that in a couple
    decades that we can change the mindset over there?
        The President. I appreciate the question. It's a very legitimate
    question. We have got influence in Afghanistan, and we are going to use
    it to remind them that there are universal values. It is deeply
    troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to
    account because they chose a particular religion over another. And so we
    are--we will make--part of the messaging just happened here in Wheeling.
    I want to thank you for that question.
        No, I think it's--we can solve this problem by working closely with
    the Government that we've got contacts with--and will. We'll deal with
    this issue diplomatically and remind people that there is something as
    universal as being able to choose religion.
        So thank you for the question. I understand your concerns. I share
    the same concerns.
        I had a little guy back here. Yes, sir.

    The Presidency

        Q. Do you like living in the White House?
        The President. Do I like living in the White House? Yes. That's a
    good, fair question. Your brother has got one too. Do you want to back
    to back them?
        Q. [Inaudible]
        The President. Okay. Well, I've been the President for 5\1/2\ years.
    I do like living in the White House--it's an interesting question--for
    some practical reasons. I've got a 45-second commute to my office.
    [Laughter] The food is pretty good. [Laughter] It is a--I've enjoyed
    every second of the Presidency. That's probably hard--like my buddies
    come up from Texas; one of the things that Laura
    and I are most proud of--we're proud of a lot--we're most proud of our
    girls, but we're also very proud of the fact that we had friends prior
    to being in politics from Texas that will be our friends after we're in
    politics.
        And they come up from Texas, and they're kind of looking at you
    like, ``Man, are you okay?'' Yes--you know. [Laughter] And I tell them,
    I say, you know, I can't tell you what an honor it is to do this job.
    They often ask, ``What's the job description?'' I say, making decisions.
    And I make a lot. Obviously, I'm trying to share with you--you may not
    agree with the decision, but at the very minimum, I want you to
    understand that I make my decisions based upon some principles I hold
    dear. In order to make decisions, you have to be enthusiastic about your
    job, you have to be optimistic about the future, and you have to stand
    for something. You can't be a President trying to search for what you
    believe in the midst of all the noise in Washington.
        Yes, ma'am. Yes. No, right here. There you go.

    Progress in Iraq/Media Coverage

        Q. Good afternoon, Mr. President. It is an honor to be here today.
    Thank you for coming. Greetings from Columbus, Ohio.
        The President. There you go.
        Q. My husband, who is sitting right here with me----
        The President. Actually, my grandfather was raised in Columbus,
    Ohio--not to change subjects, but----
        Q. That's okay, you can do whatever you want to do.

    [[Page 554]]

        The President. Prescott S. Bush. [Laughter]
        Q. I have a comment, first of all, and then just a real quick
    question. I want to let you know that every service at our church you
    are, by name, lifted up in prayer, and you and your staff and all of our
    leaders. And we believe in you. We are behind you. And we cannot thank
    you enough for what you've done to shape our country.
        This is my husband, who has returned from a 13-month tour in Tikrit.
        The President. Oh, yes. Thank you. Welcome back.
        Q. His job while serving was as a broadcast journalist. And he has
    brought back several DVDs full of wonderful footage of reconstruction,
    of medical things going on. And I ask you this from the bottom of my
    heart, for a solution to this, because it seems that our major media
    networks don't want to portray the good. They just want to focus--
    [applause].
        The President. Okay, hold on a second.
        Q. They just want to focus on another car bomb, or they just want to
    focus on some more bloodshed, or they just want to focus on how they
    don't agree with you and what you're doing, when they don't even
    probably know how you're doing what you're doing anyway. But what can we
    do to get that footage on CNN, on FOX, to get it on Headline News, to
    get it on the local news? Because you can send it to the news people--
    and I'm sorry, I'm rambling--like I have----
        The President. So was I, though, for an hour. [Laughter]
        Q. ----saying can you use this? And it will just end up in a drawer
    because it's good, it portrays the good. And if people could see that,
    if the American people could see it, there would never be another
    negative word about this conflict.
        The President. Well, I appreciate that. No, it--that's why I come
    out and speak. I spoke in Cleveland, gave a press conference yesterday--
    spoke in Cleveland Monday, press conference, here today. I'm going to
    continue doing what I'm doing to try to make sure people can hear
    there's--why I make decisions and, as best as I can, explain why I'm
    optimistic we can succeed.
        One of the things that we've got to value is the fact that we do
    have a media, free media that's able to do what they want to do. And I'm
    not going to--you're asking me to say something in front of all the
    cameras here. [Laughter] Help over there, will you? [Laughter]
        I just got to keep talking. And one of the--there's word of mouth;
    there's blogs; there's Internet; there's all kinds of ways to
    communicate, which is literally changing the way people are getting
    their information. And so if you're concerned, I would suggest that you
    reach out to some of the groups that are supporting the troops, that
    have got Internet sites, and just keep the word moving. And that's one
    way to deal with an issue without suppressing a free press. We will
    never do that in America. I mean, the minute we start trying to suppress
    our press, we look like the Taliban. The minute we start telling people
    how to worship, we look like the Taliban. And we're not interested in
    that in America. We're the opposite. We believe in freedom, and we
    believe in freedom in all its forms. And obviously, I know you're
    frustrated with what you're seeing, but there are ways in this new kind
    of age, being able to communicate, that you'll be able to spread the
    message that you want to spread.
        Thank you for your concerns, and thank you for your prayer. I want
    to tell you something interesting about the job of President, and,
    frankly, I didn't anticipate this part of the Presidency, but it's an
    amazing part of my job to know that millions of people pray for me. It's
    a--[applause]--it really is. It's--think about that. Strangers stand up
    and say, in front of a couple thousand people, I'm praying for you. And
    it helps. And I appreciate it, and

    [[Page 555]]

    I want to thank you for your prayers. It helps do the job; it helps keep
    perspective.
        Yes, sir.

    Vision for the Future

        Q. I'm a senior at the local high school, Wheeling Park High School,
    and I just want to know what your views are on what type of America my
    generation will lead.
        The President. Yes, interesting question. First, I hope that your
    generation will lead--no doubt, your generation will lead. Generations,
    when called, somehow find the courage to lead. That's step one. Two, I
    think you'll be dealing in a world in which you will be confronted with
    making values choices--for example, family, understanding that the
    family is an important aspect of society. Secondly, the choice of life--
    for example, you'll be confronted with a very difficult debate between
    science, on the one hand, and the hopes of science, and life. And it's--
    that debate is just beginning. In other words, do you destroy life to
    save life, for example, is one of the very difficult debates that your
    generation will be confronted with--to what extent does science trump
    morality, as some see it.
        You'll be confronted, hopefully, with a world that has been able to
    be free enough so that this war that's going on now is--has kind of
    faded out. This war is not going to stop like that. It's not going to
    be, like, we'll have the signing ceremony somewhere. But it's a matter
    of marginalizing those who espouse violence and empowering those who
    love freedom.
        You'll be confronted with a world in which--we're seeing a little
    bit of it now in America--whether or not we will be bold and confident
    in our economic policy to shape the future, or will we be worried about
    competition and retreat within our borders. It's an interesting debate.
    My attitude is, as I said in the State of the Union, we cannot become an
    isolationist nation. But you'll be confronted with making that decision.
    If we're an isolationist nation, it means we'll just say, ``Let them--
    don't worry about them over there; let them deal with it themselves.''
    If it's an isolationist nation, we won't worry about HIV/AIDS on the
    continent of Africa, which we should worry about. See, I believe to whom
    much is given, much is required, and that we have an obligation not only
    to help our folks here at home but also to help save lives elsewhere.
        And you'll be confronted with that decision. You'll be confronted
    with the decision as to whether or not we can confidently compete
    against nations like India and China on the economic front. And it will
    be an interesting challenge. We're facing that challenge somewhat now,
    and in my judgment, this is the beginning of what will be a constant set
    of decisions that future generations are going to have to make.
        You'll be confronted with privacy issues--privacy on the Internet,
    privacy in electronic medical records that I think ought to happen in
    order to make sure we save costs in medicine. But you'll be confronted
    with making sure that these new technologies that we're going to use to
    help improve, for example, the information of medicine, that it doesn't
    encroach into your private business, into your life. That will be a
    confrontation that you'll have to deal with.
        Anyway, you'll be confronted with some stuff. Hopefully, our job is
    to make sure you're confronted with less issues, like being hooked on
    oil. One of the issues that we're confronting with now that I hope
    you'll not have to confront with is jobs going elsewhere because our--
    because we don't have the math and science skills and engineering skills
    and physics skills that are taught to our children here. One of the
    really interesting challenges we have is to make sure not only the
    education of our children focuses on literacy, but there's literacy in
    math and science and physics and chemistry--where the jobs of the 21st
    century--the skills necessary for the jobs of the 21st century.
    Hopefully, we'll have dealt with that. Otherwise, you're going to

    [[Page 556]]

    be confronted with playing catchup. And that's why it's important for us
    to get that job done.
        You're going to be confronted with, unless we act now, a Social
    Security system and a Medicare system that's gone broke. I want to talk
    about that right quick, now I thought about it. [Laughter] No, I think
    about it a lot because I see what's coming down the road--a lot of baby
    boomers like me turning 60 this year. I'll be retirement age in 2 years,
    in 2008. [Laughter] Kind of convenient, isn't it? [Laughter] And there's
    a lot of me--people like me, a lot of people like me, a whole lot of
    baby boomers. That's one of those statistical facts that people got to
    pay attention to.
        And interestingly enough, my generation has been promised more
    benefits than the previous generation. People are running for office
    saying, ``Vote for me; I'm going to make sure this next generation gets
    a better deal than the previous generation.'' And because there was a
    lot of folks like me being promised greater benefits who are living
    longer--I don't know how plan--how other 60-year-olders, how long they
    plan to live--I plan on kind of stretching her out, you know. And there
    are fewer people paying in the system per beneficiary. And so we got a
    problem coming. The system is going to go broke. And I addressed the
    issue last year, and I'm going to address the issue again and again and
    again, to call Congress to the table.
        My strategy last time was to go around the country and explain the
    problem, on the belief that once the people heard there was a problem,
    they would then demand their Representatives do something about the
    problem. It didn't work. There was no legislation last year. So I got
    another idea, and that is, I'm going--we're going to set up a group of
    Members of Congress from both parties, both Chambers, recognizing that
    nothing can get done on this issue unless it's a bipartisan issue--and
    say, ``Now is the time.'' That's what we're here for. We have been
    elected to confront problems and deal with them. That's what the people
    expect. And they're tired, by the way, of all the politics in
    Washington, DC. They expect people to come together, to sit down at the
    table, and to solve this problem so you don't have to deal with it.
        All right, last question. Then I got to go back to work. This isn't
    work. Yes, go ahead. Hold on for a minute. Please. Like--I can't--okay,
    two questions. Who yelled the loudest? You did? All right, go ahead.
    Then you're--you're the last guy. You're next to last. You're last.

    Trade

        Q. Mr. President, thank you again for coming. My question--I believe
    that one of our greatest resources is our self-sufficiency. And as you
    drive down the road, you'll see that our community is dying because of
    the importation of cheap steel. I'd like to know what your plans are to
    help alleviate this.
        The President. Yes. Well, as you know, right before--right after I
    got elected, I put a 201 in place that--that was our way of providing
    breathing space so that the firm could adjust. And I fully understand
    the problems that the steel mills are going through here. The
    Governor spent a lot of time briefing me on
    that, on the way in, as did Shelley Moore. And it's--obviously, it's going to require good energy
    policy. Your plant can exist if it's got decent energy and reliable
    supplies at reasonable prices. Your plant can exist if you've got
    reasonable health care costs. And that's why it's important for us to do
    a variety of measures to help reduce the cost of health care. I just
    mentioned one on information technology. Another is to get rid of these
    junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine.
        In order for you to be competitive, we've got to make sure that
    products are treated fairly. As you know, I'm a free trader, but I also
    believe that people ought to treat the United States the way we treat
    them.

    [[Page 557]]

    If we're letting products coming in here, they ought to let our products
    in on the same basis. I believe--[applause]--I'm aware of the issue you
    brought up, and thank you bringing it up.
        Yes, sir. Final guy. Got to head back home. I hope you understand.
    Otherwise we'd be here all day. Wouldn't mind being here all day, but I
    got something else to do. [Laughter]
        Let her go.

    Political Ethics

        Q. Mr. President, I want to say it's a privilege and a blessing to
    be here with you.
        The President. Thank you.
        Q. And thank you for having integrity since you've been in office,
    and character.
        The President. Thank you, sir.
        Q. I'm statewide field director for the campaign for Hiram Lewis for
    U.S. Senate. And as you close--I appreciate what you had stated earlier
    about politicians. And as you close today, I did 2 years of volunteer
    work for the Republican Party while I worked a full-time job, and it
    paid off for me in this position now. And I see folks that are
    increasingly discouraged with the status quo, because the difference----
        The President. No campaign speeches.
        Q. No, sir, I'm not.
        The President. Okay.
        Q. My only question is, what would you say to those, whether
    Democrat or Republican--how could you encourage those that are
    dissatisfied with the status quo?
        The President. Right. No, I appreciate that. Look, it is really
    important for people to at least trust the decisionmaking process of
    those of us in public office. You may not agree with the decisions. You
    may not--and look, I understand a lot of people don't agree, and that's
    fine, that's fine. But they've got to understand, at least in my case,
    that I'm making my decisions based upon what I think is right, and that
    making decisions that are the kind that I make, for example, got to be
    based upon a set of principles that won't change. People got to
    understand that.
        When there's any doubt about the integrity of the public servant,
    like in Washington there has been recently, they got to clean up--they
    got to work to clean it up. There's got to be lobby reform in this case.
    I mean, the truth of the matter is, a couple of Members of the House of
    Representatives disgraced the process. A person took money in order to
    put things in appropriations bills. That's unacceptable in our
    democracy. And it needs to be dealt with in order to be able to earn the
    confidence of the people.

        I worry about lack of voter participation. I'm concerned that people
    don't participate at the ballot box. And it is something that we've all
    got to work on, because democracy is--really depends upon the
    participation of our citizenry. It's really important for high school
    students. And one of the challenges you'll face is whether or not our
    democracy is able to continue to get people to say, ``I can make a
    difference in the ballot box.''

        And so, to answer your question, integrity is a central part of the
    process. Integrity in decisionmaking, integrity in how we deal with the
    people's money, integrity of--and part of a system based upon integrity
    is one that deals with, like in this case, unethical behavior very
    quickly, with certainty so that people have got confidence in the
    system.

        I appreciate you working in the process. I want to thank you for
    your question. I wish I could stay longer to answer your questions. I
    can't; I got to go back to DC. I'm not necessarily saying I'd rather be
    in DC than here; I'd rather be here than there. But nevertheless, that's
    what my life dictates. God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:17 p.m. at the Capitol Music Hall. In
    his remarks, he referred to Terry Sterling, president, Wheeling Area
    Chamber of Commerce; Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, and his
    wife,

    [[Page 558]]

    Gayle; Mayor Nicholas A. Sparachane of Wheeling, WV; Christopher Wakim,
    representative, West Virginia State House of Representatives; John
    Anderson, employee, Wheeling, WV, office, and Janis LaFont, employee,
    White Plains, MD, office, Valley National Gases, Inc.; President Hamid
    Karzai of Afghanistan; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; senior
    Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay
    Khalilzad; Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., USA, commanding general, Multi-
    National Force--Iraq; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.