    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [April 16, 2007]
    [Pages 416-419]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Members of Armed Forces Service Organizations
    April 16, 2007

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Welcome to the White House. You
    know, I get to welcome a lot of guests here. I don't think there's a
    more important guest than a veteran or the family of a service man or
    woman or the families of those whose loved one has given their life to
    the country. And so I welcome an incredibly important group of guests.
    And thank you for coming, and thank you for your time.
        I appreciate very much to be in the presence of moms and dads,
    husbands and wives, sons and daughters of some of the finest citizens
    our Nation has ever produced. I want to thank the leaders of
    organizations that support our military families. I appreciate your
    tireless work to send a clear signal that many in the United States of
    America support our troops. Each of you knows what is stake--what is at
    stake in this war on terror. And I appreciate your efforts to rally our
    Nation to support our troops and to support the mission for which they
    have risked and, in some cases, have given their lives. I thank you for
    coming. Thanks for your service to the United States of America.
        Many of the families here today have relatives serving in harm's
    way. Others have lost loved ones in the struggle. They have come here to
    Washington with a message for their elected leaders in our Nation's
    Capital: Our troops need the resources, equipment, and weapons to fight
    our enemies. Congress needs to pass an emergency war spending bill,
    without strings and without further delay.
        On Wednesday, I will meet with congressional leaders from both
    parties right here at the White House. I'm going to pass on your message
    to them.
        I appreciate members of the Families United for Our Troops and Their
    Mission. Thanks for doing what you do. I want to thank the members of
    the Armed Forces Foundation and those who serve with our veterans
    service organizations.
        A time of war is a time of sacrifice for our Nation, but especially
    for our military families. Being left behind when a loved one goes to
    war is one of the hardest jobs in our military. The families here today
    inspire our Nation--inspire them with their sense of duty and with their
    deep devotion to our country.
        The families gathered here understand that we are a nation at war.
    Like me, they wish we weren't at war, but we are. They know that the
    enemies who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, want to bring
    further destruction to our country. They know that the only way to stop
    them is to stay on the offense, to fight the extremists and radicals
    where they live so we don't have to face them where we live.
        The families gathered here understand that our troops want to finish
    the job. Today, because of e-mail and instant messaging and other modern
    technologies, our military families are able to stay in contact with
    their loved ones overseas. I see some baby boomers out there and--who
    wore our uniform. You never would have imagined e-mailing a loved one in
    the midst of your time overseas, but that's what's happening today.
    Families here know what our troops are seeing and hearing on the ground;
    they get instant feedback from the--as a result of modern technologies.
    And they know better than anyone our troops' desire to succeed and their
    determination to prevail.
        Families gathered here understand that America is not going to be
    safe until the terrorist threat is defeated. If we do not defeat the
    terrorists and extremists in Iraq, they won't leave us alone; they will
    follow us to the United States of America. That's what makes this battle
    in the war on terror so incredibly important. One of the lessons

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    of September the 11th is, what happens overseas matters to the security
    of the United States of America, and we must not forget that lesson.
        The consequences of failure in Iraq would be death and destruction
    in the Middle East and here in America. To protect our citizens at home,
    we must defeat the terrorists. We defeat them by staying on the offense,
    and we defeat them by helping young democracies defeat their ideology of
    hate. And it's hard work, but it is necessary work, and thousands of men
    and women who wear our uniform understand the stakes.
        It's a remarkable country--isn't it?--where people stand up and
    volunteer to serve the United States in uniform during a time of war.
    And yet that's who we honor here today.
        We must give our men and women in uniform the tools and resources
    they need to prevail. Providing these resources is the responsibility of
    the United States Congress. And that is why, 70 days ago, I sent
    Congress an emergency war spending bill that would provide the vital
    funds our troops urgently need. But instead of approving this funding,
    Democrats in Congress have spent the past 70 days pushing legislation
    that would undercut our troops.
        They passed bills in the House and the Senate that would impose
    restrictions on our military commanders. They set an arbitrary date for
    withdrawal from Iraq. And they spend billions of dollars on domestic
    projects that have nothing to do with the war. After passing these
    unacceptable bills, House and Senate leaders then chose to leave town
    for spring recess without resolving their differences or sending any
    legislation to my desk.
        As Congress delays, the clock is ticking for our troops. Last week,
    Secretary of Defense Gates wrote to
    Congress, laying out the consequences of their failure to pass emergency
    spending for our troops on the frontlines. He warned that because
    Congress has not acted, quote: `The Army will soon begin reducing
    quality of life initiatives, reducing the repair and maintenance of
    equipment necessary for deployment training, and curtailing the training
    of Army Guard and Reserve units within the United States, reducing their
    readiness levels.'' He continued that if emergency funding is not
    received by mid-May, quote: ``The Army will have to consider further
    actions to include reducing the pace of equipment overhaul work at Army
    depots, curtailing training rotations for brigade combat teams currently
    scheduled for overseas deployment,'' a step that the Secretary said
    ``would likely require the further extension of currently deployed
    forces.'' In other words, there are consequences for Congress's delay in
    getting our troops the money that the Defense Department has requested.
        Congress's failure to fund our troops will mean that the readiness
    of our forces will suffer. This is unacceptable to me; it's unacceptable
    to you; and it's unacceptable to the vast majority of the American
    people.
        Listen, I understand Republicans and Democrats in Washington have
    differences over the best course in Iraq. That's healthy. That's normal.
    And we should debate those differences. But our troops should not be
    caught in the middle.
        Last week, the Senate returned to Washington, and this week, the
    House has returned as well. I've invited congressional leaders of both
    parties to meet me at the White House 2 days from today. That's what
    we're supposed to do; we're supposed to talk out our differences. I'm
    looking forward to the meetings. I hope the Democratic leadership will
    drop their unreasonable demands for a precipitous withdrawal. We've only
    committed about a little over half of our troops into a decision I made
    to help secure the Iraqi capital, and yet there are some saying, we
    ought to leave before we get there.
        I think it is wrong for Congress to restrict our military
    commanders. I can understand having a difference of opinion about Iraq,
    but our commanders need the

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    flexibility necessary to meet the mission. We should not be substituting
    political judgment for the judgment of those in our military. And the
    idea of putting, you know, peanut storage--which may be necessary at
    some point in time, I don't know; I haven't analyzed the peanut storage
    issue--[laughter]--but I do know it doesn't have much to do with--about
    making sure your loved ones get what's needed to do their job.
        I am willing to discuss any way forward that does not hamstring our
    troops, set an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and spend billions
    on projects not related to the war. The American people expect the
    leaders in Washington to find common ground, but they also expect the
    Congress and the White House to work together to make sure our troops
    get funded quickly. We should not legislate defeat in this vital war.
        We owe it to our men and women in uniform to give them the full
    support. It's important as people debate this issue to think about
    somebody like Merrilee Carlson, with us
    today. She's a Gold Star Mom. Two years ago, Merrilee's son, Michael,
    gave his life in Iraq when his platoon was on a night mission to take
    out two terrorist bomb-making factories. As they approached their
    target, they passed over a culvert that gave way, and their Bradley
    fighting vehicle plunged into the water, and Michael and four others in
    the vehicle died that day.
        Michael penned a high school essay before he joined the Army. This
    is what he wrote: ``I want my life to account for something. Everyone
    eventually loses their life. I have only so much time. I want to fight
    for something, be a part of something greater than myself. I want to be
    a soldier or something of that caliber.'' He became a soldier; he gave
    his life for something greater than himself. And now his mom and dad have just one
    demand, and that is to make sure Michael's sacrifice is not in vain.
        We owe it to the Carlson family; we owe it to other Gold Star
    families here todayto complete the mission for which their loved ones
    gave their lives. We owe it to a future generation of Americans to help
    secure peace. We owe it to the American people to make this Nation
    safer. The most solemn obligation of the government and Washington is to
    provide security for the American people and to protect them from harm.
        We owe it to the brave Iraqis. I just spoke to the Prime
    Minister; I told him I was coming to see
    you. He said: ``Please thank the people in the White House for their
    sacrifices.''
        And we will continue to work hard to be an ally in this war on
    terror. We'll continue to do the hard work necessary to help change the
    conditions that caused 19 young men to get on airplanes to come and kill
    thousands of our citizens on September the 11th.
        We owe it to every sailor, soldier, airman, marine in harm's way to
    give them the tools they need to prevail. That's what we owe them.
        As we saw with last week's brutal attack on the Iraqi Parliament,
    our troops face depraved and determined enemies, enemies that could just
    as easily come here to kill us. And therefore, we must give our men and
    women in uniform the best equipment, the best training, and the
    unqualified support of our Nation.
        Congress needs to put partisanship on hold. It needs to get rid of
    all the politics right now and send me an emergency war spending bill
    that I can sign that gets our troops the support they need and gives our
    commanders the flexibility they need to complete this mission.
        I appreciate you coming. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of
    Iraq.

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