    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [November 1, 2007]
    [Pages 1409-1414]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Heritage Foundation
    November 1, 2007

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you. Ed, thanks. Thanks for the kind introduction. I'm looking
    forward to working with you for the next 14 months--but you better put
    on your running shoes because my spirits are high, my energy level is
    good, and I'm sprinting to the finish line.
        I congratulate you on your 30th anniversary as the president--
    [laughter]. No such thing as term limits here. [Laughter] And rightly
    so, because Ed is a person who has taken
    the conservative movement from one that used to meet in a phone booth
    here in Washington--[laughter]--to a robust group of folks who are
    shaping policy in Washington, DC. As a matter of fact, you've got a
    little bigger phone booth these days than you did 30 years ago.
    [Laughter]
        I appreciate all you've done, and I really want to thank Heritage.
    One of the interesting things about the Heritage legacy is that the
    folks here have been tireless advocates, tireless champions of liberty
    and free enterprise and democracy and religious freedom. These are
    values that came under attack on September the 11th, 2001. Our Nation
    was attacked by a brutal enemy that despises freedom, that rejects
    tolerance, that kills the innocent in the pursuit of a dark vision.
    These folks believe that it's okay to subjugate women and indoctrinate
    children and murder those who oppose their harsh rule. They have stated
    clearly they want to impose this ideology on millions. They're at war
    with America because they hate what they stand for, and they understand
    we stand in their way.
        And so today I've come to talk to you about the war on terror, my
    firm commitment that we'll do everything in our power to protect the
    American people, and my call on the United States Congress to give us
    the tools necessary so we can do the job the American people expect.
        I too want to thank the members of the Heritage Foundation board of
    trustees who've joined us. Thank you for supporting this important
    organization. I can't tell you how important it is to have good centers
    of thought in Washington, DC--people

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    who are willing to look at today's problems and come up with innovative
    solution based upon sound principle to solve those problems. And that's
    how I view Heritage.
        I thank all the members and guests who've joined us today as well.
    It's a pleasure to be with you.
        It's been now more than 6 years since the enemy attacked us on
    September the 11th, and we are blessed that there has not been another
    attack on our soil. With the passage of time, the memories of the 9/11
    attacks have grown more distant. And for some, there's a temptation to
    think that the threats to our country have grown distant as well. They
    have not.
        The terrorists who struck America that September morning intend to
    strike us again. We know this because the enemy has told us so. Just
    last year, Usama bin Laden warned the
    American people, quote, ``Operations are under preparation, and you will
    see them on your own ground once they are finished.'' Seven months
    later, British authorities broke up the most ambitious known Al Qaida
    plot since the 9/11 attacks, a plot to blow up passenger airplanes
    flying over the Atlantic toward the United States. Our intelligence
    community believes that this plot was just 2 or 3 weeks away from
    execution. If it had been carried out, it could have rivaled 9/11 in
    death and destruction.
        The lesson of this experience is clear. We must take the words of
    the enemy seriously. The terrorists have stated their objectives. They
    intend to build a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current
    and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to north Africa, the
    Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In pursuit of their imperial aims,
    these extremists say there can be no compromise or dialog with those
    they call infidels, a category that includes America, the world's free
    nation, Jews, and all Muslims who reject their extreme vision of Islam.
    They reject the possibility of peaceful coexistence with the free world.
    Again, hear the words of Usama bin Laden
    last year: ``Death is better than living on this Earth with the
    unbelievers among us.''
        History teaches us that underestimating the words of evil, ambitious
    men is a terrible mistake. In the early 1900s, the world ignored the
    words of Lenin as he laid out his plans to launch a Communist revolution
    in Russia, and the world paid a terrible price. The Soviet Empire he
    established killed tens of millions and brought the world to the brink
    of thermonuclear war.
        In the 1920s, the world ignored the words of Hitler as he explained
    his intention to build an Aryan super-state in Germany, take revenge on
    Europe, and eradicate the Jews, and the world paid a terrible price. His
    Nazi regime killed millions in the gas chambers and set the world aflame
    in war before it was finally defeated at a terrible cost in lives and
    treasure.
        Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have
    made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them. And the
    question is, will we listen? America and our coalition partners are
    listening. We have made our choice. We take the words of the enemy
    seriously. Over the past 6 years, we have captured or killed hundreds of
    terrorists. We have disrupted their finances. We have prevented new
    attacks before they could be carried out. We removed regimes in
    Afghanistan and Iraq that had supported terrorists and threatened our
    citizens, and in so doing, liberated 50 million people from the clutches
    of tyranny.
        With our allies, we're keeping the pressure on the enemy. We're
    keeping them on the move. We're fighting them everywhere they make their
    stand, from the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq to the
    islands of Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa. On every battlefront,
    we're on the offense. We're keeping constant pressure. And in this war
    on terror, we will not rest or retreat or withdraw from the fight until
    this threat to civilization has been removed.
        I fully understand that after 6 years, the sense of imminent danger
    has passed for

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    some, and it can be natural for people to forget the lessons of 9/11 as
    they go about their daily lives. I just want to assure you that I'll
    never forget the lessons of September the 11th and nor will the people
    with whom I work. I know that when I discuss the war on terror, some
    here in Washington, DC, dismiss it as political rhetoric, an attempt to
    scare people into votes. Given the nature of the enemy and the words of
    its leaders, politicians who deny that we are at war are either being
    disingenuous or naive. Either way, it is dangerous for our country. We
    are at war, and we cannot win this war by wishing it away or pretending
    it does not exist.
        Unfortunately, on too many issues, some in Congress are behaving as
    if America is not at war. For example, in a time of war, it is vital for
    the President to have a full national security team in place, and a key
    member of that team is the Attorney General. The job of the Attorney
    General is essential to the security of America. The Attorney General is
    the highest ranking official responsible for our law enforcement
    community's efforts to detect and prevent terrorist attacks here at
    home.
        I've selected an outstanding nominee to fill this vital role, Judge
    Michael Mukasey. Judge Mukasey has a long
    record of accomplishments in matter of law and national security. He has
    been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike as a man of honesty,
    intellect, fairness, and independence.
        Judge Mukasey provided nearly 6 hours
    of testimony. He patiently answered more than 200 questions at the
    hearing. He has responded to nearly 500 written questions less than a
    week after his hearing. Yet the Senate Judiciary Committee has been
    holding up his nomination.
        As a price for his confirmation, some on that committee want Judge
    Mukasey to take a legal position on
    specific techniques allegedly used to interrogate captured terrorists.
    As Judge Mukasey explained in a letter to committee members, he cannot
    do so for several reasons.
        First, he does not know whether certain methods of questioning are
    in fact used because the program is classified, and therefore, he is in
    no position to provide an informed opinion. He has not been read into
    the program and won't until he is confirmed and sworn in--won't be until
    he is confirmed and sworn in as the Attorney General.
        Second, he does not want an uninformed opinion to be taken by our
    professional interrogators in the field as placing them in legal
    jeopardy.
        Finally, he does not want any statement of his to give the
    terrorists a window into which techniques we may use and which ones we
    may not use. That could help them train their operatives to resist
    questioning and withhold vital information we need to stop attacks and
    save lives.
        In the war on terror, intelligence is one of the most crucial tools
    for our defense. If a captured terrorist has information about a plot
    against our homeland, we need to know what he knows. And so that's why I
    put in place, under the CIA, a program to question key terrorist
    operatives and its leaders. Last year, Congress passed a law that allows
    the CIA to continue this vital program. The procedures used in this
    program are safe, they are lawful, and they are necessary.
        Senior leaders in the House and the Senate, from both political
    parties, have been briefed on the details of this program. It's wrong
    for congressional leaders to make Judge Mukasey's confirmation dependent on his willingness to go on the
    record about the details of a classified program he has not been briefed
    on. If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on
    these grounds, they would set a new standard for confirmation that could
    not be met by any responsible nominee for Attorney General. And that
    would guarantee that America would have no Attorney General during this
    time of war.

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        By any measure, Judge Mukasey is
    eminently qualified to be the next Attorney General. And now, after
    allowing his nomination to languish for 41 days, the Senate Judiciary
    Committee has scheduled a vote for next Tuesday. Senate leaders must
    move this nomination out of committee, bring it to the Senate for--
    floor, and confirm this good man.
        Congress has also failed to act on intelligence legislation that is
    vital to protect the American people in this war on terror. Stopping new
    attacks on our country requires us to make sure we understand the
    intentions of the enemy. We've got to know what they're thinking and
    what they're planning. And that means we got to have effective measures
    to monitor their communications.
        This summer, Congress passed the Protect America Act, which
    strengthened our ability to collect foreign intelligence on terrorists
    overseas. And this good law closed a dangerous gap in our intelligence.
    Unfortunately, they made this law effective for only 6 months. The
    problem is that Al Qaida doesn't operate on a 6-month timetable.
    [Laughter] And if Congress doesn't act soon, the law will expire, and
    the gap in our intelligence will reopen, and the United States of
    America will be at risk.
        We must keep the intelligence gap firmly closed. If the terrorists
    are communicating with each other and are plotting new attacks, we need
    to know what they're planning. We must ensure that the protections
    intended for the American people are not extended to terrorists overseas
    who are plotting to harm us. And we must grant liability protection to
    companies who are facing multibillion-dollar lawsuits only because they
    are believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend our Nation
    following the 9/11 attacks.
        The Senate Intel Committee has approved a bipartisan bill that
    contains provisions to preserve our ability to collect intelligence on
    terrorists overseas, while protecting the civil liberties of Americans
    here at home. This bill still needs some improving, but it's an
    important step in the right direction. Time is of the essence, and the
    full Senate and the House of Representatives need to get a--pass a good
    bill and get it to my desk promptly so our intelligence professionals
    can continue to use the vital tools of the Protect America Act to keep
    us safe.
        Congress is also stalling on the emergency war supplemental to fund
    our troops on the frontlines in Afghanistan and Iraq. This crucial bill
    includes funds for bullets and body armor, protection against IEDs, and
    Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Congress should be able to
    move the supplemental quickly. There's no reason why they're not moving
    the supplemental. After all, it had more than 8 months to study most of
    its provisions. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the funding request in the
    supplemental was submitted along with my annual budget in February of
    this year. The supplemental is critical for our troops, and Congress
    should not go home for the holidays while our men and women in uniform
    are waiting for the funds they need.
        Congress also needs to pass the Department of Defense spending bill
    as well as the funding bill for our Nation's veterans. There are reports
    that congressional leaders may be considering combining the funding
    bills for our military and our veterans together with a bloated labor,
    health, and education spending bill. It's hard to imagine a more cynical
    ploy than holding funding for our troops and our wounded warriors
    hostage in order to extract $11 billion in wasteful Washington spending.
    If the reports of this strategy are true, I will veto such a three-bill
    pileup.
        I ask Congress to send me a clean veterans funding bill by Veterans
    Day and to pass a clean defense spending bill. Congress needs to put the
    needs of those who put on the uniform ahead of their desire to spend
    more money. When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington
    should spend more time responding to the

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    warnings of terrorists like Usama bin Laden
    and the requests of our commanders on the ground and less time
    responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and CODEPINK
    protesters.
        Here's the bottom line. This is no time for Congress to weaken the
    Department of Justice by denying it a strong and effective leader. It's
    no time for Congress to weaken our ability to gather vital intelligence
    from captured terrorists. It's no time for Congress to weaken our
    ability to intercept information from terrorists about potential attacks
    on the United States of America. And this is no time for Congress to
    hold back vital funding for our troops as they fight Al Qaida terrorists
    and radicals in Afghanistan and Iraq.
        In the struggle against the terrorists and extremists, I hope I made
    my strategy clear today: that we will keep constant pressure on the
    enemy in order to defend the American people; we will fight them
    overseas so we do not have to fight them here at home. At the same time,
    we'll use every available tool of law and intelligence to protect the
    people here. That's our most solemn duty. It's a duty I think about
    every day.
        In the long run, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to advance
    freedom as the great alternative to radicalism and repression. We can
    have confidence in this cause because we have seen the power of liberty
    to transform nations and secure peace before. Here at the Heritage
    Foundation, you understand this better than most. During the cold war,
    there were loud voices in Washington who argued for accommodation of the
    Soviet Union because they believed the watchword of our policy should be
    ``stability.'' At Heritage, you knew that when it came to the Soviet
    Union, the watchword of our policy should be ``freedom.''
        Together with a great President named Ronald Reagan, you championed
    a policy of rolling back communism oppression and bringing freedom to
    nations enslaved by Communist tyranny. And by taking the side of
    dissidents, who helped millions across the world throw off the shackles
    of communism, you helped build the free and peaceful societies that are
    the true sources of stability and peace in the world.
        And now we're at the start of a new century, and the same debate is
    once again unfolding, this time regarding my policy in the Middle East.
    Once again, voices in Washington are arguing that the watchword of the
    policy should be ``stability.'' And once again, they're wrong. In Kabul,
    in Baghdad, in Beirut, and other cities across the broader Middle East,
    brave men and women are risking their lives every day for the same
    freedoms we enjoy. And like the citizens of Prague and Warsaw and
    Budapest in the century gone by, they are looking to the United States
    to stand up for them, speak out for them, and champion their cause. And
    we are doing just that.
        We are standing with those who yearn for the liberty--who yearn for
    liberty in the Middle East because we understand that the desire for
    freedom is universal, written by the Almighty into the hearts of every
    man, woman, and child on this Earth.
        We are standing with those who yearn for liberty in the Middle East
    because we know that the terrorists fear freedom even more than they
    fear our firepower. They know that given a choice, no one will choose to
    live under their dark ideology of violence and death.
        We're standing with those who yearn for liberty in the Middle East
    because we know that when free societies take root in that part of the
    world, they will yield the peace we all desire. See, the only way the
    terrorists can recruit operatives and suicide bombers is by feeding on
    the hopelessness of societies mired in despair. And by bringing freedom
    to these societies, we replace hatred with hope, and this will help us
    to marginalize the extremists and eliminate the conditions that feed
    radicalism and make the American people more secure.
        The lessons of the past have taught us that liberty is
    transformative. And I believe

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    50 years from now, an American President will be speaking to Heritage
    and say, thank God that generation that wrote the first chapter in the
    21st century understood the power of freedom to bring the peace we want.
        Thank you for coming. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:47 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Edwin J. Feulner, president, the Heritage Foundation; and Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. He also referred
    to S. 2248.