[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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.