[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 7 (Monday, February 19, 2001)]
[Pages 282-284]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Troops at Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia

February 13, 2001

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you very much. General, thank 
you for that kind introduction, and thank you for your service to our 
Nation. I'm honored to be here with the Secretary of Defense, Don 
Rumsfeld. I picked a good man to be the Secretary of Defense.
    General Shelton, thank you for accompanying us today. Admiral 
Perowne, Admiral Mayer, members of the NATO staff. I want to thank the 
NATO Ambassadors who are here, or the Ambassadors representing NATO 
countries who are here. I'm honored that you took time out of your day 
to come down. I'm thankful that members of the congressional delegation 
from the Commonwealth of Virginia and other States around the Nation 
traveled with us. I'm particularly pleased that Senator John Warner is 
here, along with the former Governor of the State of Virginia, now-
Senator George Allen.
    I also want to recognize not only Members of the United States House 
of Representatives but also Ed Shrock, the newly elected United States 
Congressman from this district. I appreciate Ed traveling with us, as 
well.
    Most of all, I want to thank the men and women who wear the uniform 
for your warm greeting, and thank you for your service to the United 
States of America. I also want to thank your family members who are here 
with you. Oftentimes, we talk about the men and women who wear the 
uniform; it's also important to remember the husbands and wives of those 
who do, as well.
    Just this morning we're reminded of the risks of your duty and the 
sacrifices that you make. I ask you to join me in a moment of silent 
prayer for the dead, the wounded, and missing crew members of the 25th 
Infantry Division who were involved in a training accident on Oahu this 
morning.

[At this point, a moment of silence was observed.]

    The President. Amen.
    We fly 19 flags here. Together, they symbolize one of the supreme 
achievements of the last century. NATO is the reason history records no 
world war III. By preserving the stability of Europe and the 
transatlantic community, NATO has kept the peace, and the work goes on.
    When NATO was formed, the great challenge was to prevent conflict in 
Europe by a system of collective defense among three nations. In a 
message to Congress sent with the NATO Treaty, President Harry Truman 
explained his purpose this way: ``The nations signing this treaty,'' he 
said, ``share a common heritage of democracy, individual liberty, and 
the rule of law. The security and welfare of each member of this 
community depend upon the security and welfare of all. None of us alone 
can achieve economic prosperity or military security. None of us alone 
can assure the continuance of freedom.''
    This is still true today. Our challenges have changed, and NATO is 
changing and growing to meet them. But the purpose of NATO remains 
permanent. As we have seen in the Balkans, together, united, we can 
detour the designs of aggression and spare the Continent from the 
effects of ethnic hatreds.
    I'm here today with a message for America's allies. We will 
cooperate in the work of peace. We will consult early and candidly with 
our NATO Allies. We will expect them to return the same. In diplomacy, 
in technology, in missile defense, in fighting wars, and above all, in 
preventing wars, we must work as one. Transatlantic security and 
stability is a vital American interest, and our unity is essential for 
peace in the world. Nothing must ever divide us.
    A little while ago I saw an example of that unity in action. From 
the command center here, I had a glimpse of future threats and of the 
technology that will be used to meet them. These new systems are 
impressive, and they're only a beginning in the technologies we will 
need to deter wars in the decades to come. Because America, NATO, and 
our

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allies have made the world more secure, we have an opportunity today 
given to few nations in history to prepare for the future, to think 
anew.
    Eleven years after the end of the cold war we are in a time of 
transition and testing, when it will be decided what dangers draw near 
or pass away, what tragedies are invited or averted. We must use this 
time well. We must seize this moment.
    First, we must prepare our nations against the dangers of a new era. 
The grave threat from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons has not 
gone away with the cold war. It has evolved into many separate threats, 
some of them harder to see and harder to answer. And the adversaries 
seeking these tools of terror are less predictable, more diverse. With 
advanced technology, we must confront the threats that come on a 
missile. With shared intelligence and enforcement, we must confront the 
threats that come in a shipping container or in a suitcase.
    We have no higher priority than the defense of our people against 
terrorist attack. To succeed, America knows we must work with our 
allies. We did not prevail together in the cold war only to go our 
separate ways, pursuing separate plans with separate technologies.
    The dangers ahead confront us all. The defenses we build must 
protect us all. And secondly, as you know firsthand, we must extend our 
peace by advancing our technology. We're witnessing a revolution in the 
technology of war, powers increasingly defined not by size but by 
mobility and swiftness. Advantage increasingly comes from information 
such as the three-dimensional images of simulated battle that I have 
just seen. Safety is gained in stealth and forces projected on the long 
arc of precision-guided weapons. The best way to keep the peace is to 
redefine war on our terms.
    At my request, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has begun a 
comprehensive review of the United States military, the state of our 
strategy, the structure of our forces, the priorities of our budget. I 
have given him a broad mandate to challenge the status quo as we design 
a new architecture for the defense of America and our allies. We will 
modernize some existing weapons and equipment, a task we have neglected 
for too long, but we will do this judiciously and selectively. Our goal 
is to move beyond marginal improvements to harness new technologies that 
will support a new strategy.
     We do not know yet the exact shape of our future military, but we 
know the direction we must begin to travel. On land, our heavy forces 
will be lighter; our light forces will be more lethal. All will be 
easier to deploy and to sustain. In the air, we will be able to strike 
across the world with pinpoint accuracy, using both aircraft and 
unmanned systems. On the oceans, we will connect information and weapons 
in new ways, maximizing our ability to project power over land. In 
space, we'll protect our network of satellites essential to the flow of 
our commerce and the defense of our common interests. All of this will 
require great effort and new spending.
    The first budget I will send to Congress makes only a start. Before 
we make our full investment, we must know our exact priorities, and we 
will not know our priorities until the defense review is finished. That 
report will mark the beginning of a new defense agenda and a new 
strategic vision and will be the basis for allocating our defense 
resources.
    As I announced yesterday, my 2002 defense budget will increase 
spending on the people of our military immediately with better pay, 
better housing, and better--[applause]. This need is urgent, and it's 
obvious. [Laughter] You give the best, and we owe you the best in 
return. My 2002 budget will also include $2.6 billion as a downpayment 
on the research and development effort that lies ahead.
     Yet, in our broader effort, we must put strategy first, then 
spending. Our defense vision will drive our defense budget, not the 
other way around.
     Vice President Cheney often points out that the military itself is 
like a ship that cannot be turned around in a moment. It has a dynamic 
and momentum all its own, set in motion by events and decisions long ago 
and turning only in a wide, long arc. Change will not come easy for 
America's military and for our allies. But we must know our direction 
and make our turn. You can count on

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me to lead these changes in a spirit of respect and gratitude for the 
military and its traditions.
    Some things about America's Armed Forces must never change. In times 
of trouble and in times of peace, the men and women who wear the uniform 
are the military's greatest asset. Without your hard work and heroism, 
your discipline and personal courage, the finest of technologies cannot 
defend us.
     Our NATO Allies have brought their own character and courage to the 
defense of liberty. We're cast together in a story of shared struggle 
and shared victory. Here, where three ships from England once passed on 
their way to Jamestown, we carry on the alliance that joined the old 
world and the new. We're allies, and we are friends. As long as we stand 
together, power will always be on the side of peace and freedom.
    God bless the United States military. God bless NATO, and God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. outside the headquarters 
building of the NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic. In his remarks, 
he referred to Gen. William F. Kernan, USA, NATO Supreme Allied 
Commander, Atlantic, Commander in Chief, U.S. Joint Forces Command; Gen 
Henry H. Shelton, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Sir James F. 
Perowne, KBE, United Kingdom Navy, NATO Deputy Supreme Commander, 
Atlantic; and Rear Adm. Martin J. Mayer, USN, Deputy Commander in Chief, 
U.S. Joint Forces Command.