    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [September 18, 2007]
    [Pages 1208-1210]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Members of Military Support Organizations
    September 18, 2007

        The President. Please be seated. Thanks for coming. Laura and I are honored to welcome you here to the South
    Lawn. Welcome to the people's house. First, I'd like to thank Katy
    Benko for singing the national anthem. It's not
    only a beautiful morning to sing the national anthem, it's a beautiful
    setting in which to sing the national anthem. Katy's husband Ryan is deployed to Iraq. Katy, make sure you e-mail him and
    tell him how appreciative we are of your service, and tell him how
    appreciative all of us are of your voice.
        Laura and I want to thank the members of
    our--my administration for joining us. Mr. Vice President, we're really thrilled you're here. Thank you for coming,
    sir. Secretary of State Condi Rice is with
    us today. Madam Secretary, appreciate you being here. Secretary Jim
    Nicholson of the Veterans Affairs
    Administration; thanks for coming, Jim.
        For you veterans who are here, there is no more solemn obligation by
    your Government to make sure you have all it takes to--for your health
    care and for your support. I feel a very strong obligation, since it was
    my decision that committed young men and women into combat, to make sure
    our veterans who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan get all the
    help this Government can possibly provide.
        I appreciate the Secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, for joining us; the Secretary of the Navy,
    Don Winter; General Hoss
    Cartwright, Vice Chairman of
    the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife Sandee. By the way, General Cartwright is a marine.
        Audience members. Hooah!

    [[Page 1209]]

        The President. I'm not playing to the crowd or anything. [Laughter]
        I want to welcome members of this crowd who have lost a loved one in
    this war against terror. Our hearts go out to you. We love you. The best
    way to honor the sacrifices that your loved one made, as well as the
    sacrifice you have made, is to accomplish the mission, is to achieve the
    peace.
        Laura and I welcome the families who have got
    a loved one overseas, whether it be in Iraq or Afghanistan, fighting
    these extremists and terrorists. The best way to honor your loved one is
    to make sure that he or she has the full support of the United States
    Government as you accomplish the mission that we have set out. By the
    way, for the loved ones here, I fully understand the best way to sustain
    a volunteer army is to make sure you're happy--[laughter]--is to make
    sure you've got good housing; to make sure that you've got good health
    care; to make sure that you understand that we know that you're in this
    fight along with your husband or wife or son or daughter. And that's
    exactly how this administration feels.
        For the veterans who are here, for those of you who are veterans in
    Iraq and Afghanistan, thank you for volunteering in the face of danger.
    And for the people who aren't veterans yet, still remain on active duty,
    thanks for wearing the uniform of the greatest country on the face of
    the Earth. We're proud of you.
        I want to thank our service organizations and those who have come
    together to support our families and our troops. I can't tell you how
    important it is for organizations like the Vets for Freedom or the VFW
    or the American Legion and other groups, two of you--Gold Star Mothers,
    got you, okay, thank you--Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers, all the
    mothers, yes. Every day is Mother's Day as far as you're concerned,
    isn't it? [Laughter]
        Audience member. Don't forget the dads.
        The President. And the dads, yes. I knew this was going to happen.
    [Laughter] Yes, the wives, okay, fine. [Laughter] Everybody's supporting
    our troops. I want to thank you for doing it.
        It's important people hear from you. It's important people hear your
    voice. And I want to thank you for organizing. I want to thank you not
    only for the grassroots support of our families, I want to thank you for
    going up to Capitol Hill. And here's the message I hope you deliver: The
    Commander in Chief wants to succeed, and the Commander in Chief takes
    seriously the recommendations of our military commanders. General
    Petraeus came back to the United States to
    deliver the recommendations he made to me. Inherent in his
    recommendations is, one, his belief we're succeeding, his belief we will
    succeed. And I ask the United States Congress to support the troop
    levels and the strategies I have embraced.
        Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
        The President. Thank you all. When the history books are finally
    written about this chapter in the war against extremists and radicals,
    they will recognize certain truths: One, that we recognize that if we
    were to retreat from the Middle East, the enemy would not be content to
    remain where they are, but they would follow us here. We recognize that
    the best way to protect our homeland is to defeat an enemy overseas so
    we do not have to face them here on the streets of America. And we
    recognized that liberty is powerful, that liberty will yield the peace
    that we want for generations to come. They will recognize that this
    generation of Americans did the hard work now, so that future
    generations could live in security and peace.
        And so on this beautiful morning, we thank you for your steadfast
    resolve; we appreciate your support of those brave souls who have
    volunteered in the face of the danger. We ask for God's blessings on the
    families and our troops in harm's way.

    [[Page 1210]]

    And we thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts. God bless you
    all.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:07 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA,
    commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq.