[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 7 (Monday, February 19, 2001)]
[Pages 287-289]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion With Employers of National Guard 
Personnel and Reservists in Charleston

February 14, 2001

    The President. The Secretary and I are thankful you all are here; 
very thankful that the good Senator from this great State has traveled 
with us. It's an honor to be in his presence. He is an eloquent 
spokesman on what's right about America, and a pretty darn good 
spokesman about what's needed in West Virginia, I might add. [Laughter]
    I appreciate the newly elected Congresswoman as well, Shelley Moore, 
for being

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here. I want to thank the other members of the delegation.
    I'm so pleased to come and talk about the Guard and reservists. I 
used to be in the Guard, and one of the best things about being the 
Governor, Governor, is to be the commander in chief of the Guard in 
Texas, and in your case, West Virginia. It's an honor, and I know you're 
going to take it and do a good job. You've got a pretty darn good start 
with a general leading the troops here in West Virginia.
    I want you to know, Colonel Raney, I would have come back whether I 
won or lost. [Laughter] I fell in love with West Virginia during my time 
here. But now is not the time for politics. This is a visit about public 
policy, and that's the defense of our Nation. I'm going to give a more 
formal speech later on, but the purpose of this visit is to listen some 
but also to assure you.
    I understand a couple things that are important: One, the role of 
the Guard and reservists not only abroad is important but, as 
importantly, at home. Part of our job is to assess real threats to the 
Nation and address those threats with corresponding defense policy. I'm 
worried that we are trying to be all things to all people around the 
world and, therefore, creating the tension that you accurately 
described. It's not only a tension for employer to employee; it's 
tensions, oftentimes, between husband and wife. And overdeployments, 
constant deployments really create a severe issue for morale all 
throughout the military. And we're going to address that by starting 
with redefining the mission or clarifying the mission of the United 
States military. And that's this: to be trained and prepared to fight 
and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first 
place.
    Our administration will keep our commitments, and we've got a lot of 
commitments to keep. There will be no precipitous withdrawal from the 
commitments we inherited, but as we go forward we will be careful about 
troop deployment, judiciously use our troops. We understand that 
overdeployments not only affect those on active duty but also affect 
those in the Reserves and Guard. And I appreciate you bringing that up 
so very much.
    I also appreciate very much the opportunity to highlight the 
patriotic role not only the guardsmen and reservists play but the 
patriotic role that the employer plays in America. It's a two-way 
street, and our Nation needs to be grateful for those who understand the 
bottom line is more than just profit and loss; the bottom line is also 
service to the country.
    There's all kinds of ways employers can do that. They can give 
generously of health care; they can give generously of contributions and 
dollars to help in the communities in which they live. But employers 
also give incredibly generously when it comes to supporting the Guards 
and reservists--guardsmen and reservists who are now fulfilling much of 
the mission that is now taking place overseas.
    It's a huge honor to be the Commander in Chief. I take the 
responsibility very seriously. We're going to have a foreign policy 
that's strong and consistent and clear, with a military that is focused 
and prepared to keep the peace. And the guardsmen and reservists will 
play a major role.
    Now, Colonel Raney, I'm told that there are some other folks who may 
want to say something, in which case I'm prepared to listen or answer 
questions if you have any. If I don't know it, the Secretary of Defense 
Rumsfeld will. [Laughter]

[ At this point, the discussion continued.]

    The President. I think it's important for the Nation to understand 
the critical role the Guard and reservists play in today's mix. And this 
mission--or this trip today is to clarify the mission, to not only say 
thanks to the folks of West Virginia but, hopefully, to get people 
around the country paying attention to reality. And reality is, the 
Guard and reservists carry quite a bit of the load overseas and also 
serve--set up some of these good employers as examples for others to 
look at and to follow.
    So, thank you, Governor. Good luck on your speech tonight. You'll do 
great.

[The discussion continued. A participant stated that letting everyone 
know about the opportunities available and having employers encourage 
people to take advantage of them

[[Page 289]]

would contribute to a viable force in the future.]

    The President. John, I appreciate that. The good news is, in your 
State, is you've got more folks applying for jobs than exist in the 
Guard and Reserve. So evidently, word-of-mouth advertising is pretty 
darn effective.
    Q. Our general helps us with that. [Laughter]
    The President. We've got an overall issue of recruitment and 
retention throughout all the military. The Secretary and I will address 
that. It starts with better pay but also requires our Nation to have a 
focused mission. So it's clear about what the mission of the military 
is.
    And I keep saying this over and over again, and we'll work with our 
allies to help them understand that our Nation is a nation of 
peacemakers; we'll help make the peace. But we're going to be reluctant 
to put troops on the ground to keep people apart, warring parties apart. 
It's a concern of me and the Secretary and others. And we will work with 
our allies to make sure they understand what our position is before we 
take any action.

[The discussion continued. A participant stated that, given the energy 
situation, the United States had no choice but to be involved in the 
Middle East to ensure a continued oil supply.]

    The President. I appreciate you saying that. It reminded me of what 
Senator Byrd told me the other day. I can't quite put it as eloquently 
as he did, but he reminded me that we need a national energy policy of 
which coal needs to be an integral part.
    Q. We are importing 60 percent of our oil daily----
    The President. Which is a national security concern.
    Q. ----and about 12 million barrels a day.
    The President. It is up to all of us to remind folks that we can 
safely mine coal, and we can cleanly burn it with the right technology. 
As a matter of fact, the Senator and I--Senator Stevens--were not only 
talking about the use of technology at home, clean coal technologies 
here at home, but also being able to have clean coal technology as part 
of an export policy, so that nations that have not developed like we 
have will be able to utilize the technologies that have been developed, 
much of which have been developed right here in the State of West 
Virginia.
    The energy situation in the country is very serious. Demand is 
greater than supply. And we can affect demand, and will. We'll work on 
conservation measures. But we also have got to understand that we need 
to work on the supply side, Senator, and coal is in abundant supply here 
in America.
    And my job and the job of others will be to convince many in the 
country who don't believe we can have a clean air policy and burn coal 
at the same time. I believe we can, and many of the experts know we can. 
And we've got to do it; we've got to sell the country on that.
    In the meantime, we've also got to make sure that we're less 
dependent on foreign sources of crude oil. The lack of an energy policy 
and national security concerns go hand-in-hand. And I'm very aware of 
that, sir.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:35 a.m. in the Armory at the West 
Virginia Army National Guard Headquarters. In his remarks, he referred 
to Maj. Gen. Allen E. Tackett, Adjutant General, and Col. William R. 
Raney, Director of Facilities and Engineering, West Virginia Army 
National Guard; and Gov. Robert E. Wise of West Virginia. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.