[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 38 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[Pages 1321-1322]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 15, 2001

    Good morning. This weekend I am engaged in extensive sessions with 
members of my National Security Council, as we plan a comprehensive 
assault on terrorism. This will be a different kind of conflict against 
a different kind of enemy.
    This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads, a conflict 
with opponents who believe they are invisible. Yet, they are mistaken. 
They will be exposed, and they will discover what others in the past 
have learned: Those who make war against the United States have chosen 
their own destruction. Victory against terrorism will not take place in 
a single battle but in a series of decisive actions against terrorist 
organizations and those who harbor and support them.
    We are planning a broad and sustained campaign to secure our country 
and eradicate the evil of terrorism. And we are determined to see this 
conflict through. Americans of every faith and background are committed 
to this goal.
    Yesterday I visited the site of the destruction in New York City and 
saw an amazing spirit of sacrifice and patriotism and defiance. I met 
with rescuers who have worked past exhaustion, who cheered for our 
country and the great cause we have entered.
    In Washington, DC, the political parties and both Houses of Congress 
have shown a remarkable unity, and I'm deeply grateful. A terrorist 
attack designed to tear us apart has instead bound us together as a 
nation. Over the past few days, we have learned much about American 
courage, the courage of firefighters and police officers who suffered so 
great a loss, the courage of passengers aboard United 93 who may well 
have fought with the hijackers and saved many lives on the ground.
    Now we honor those who died, and prepare to respond to these attacks 
on our Nation. I will not settle for a token act. Our response must be 
sweeping, sustained, and effective. We have much do to and much to ask 
of the American people.
    You will be asked for your patience, for the conflict will not be 
short. You will be asked for resolve, for the conflict will not be easy. 
You will be asked for your strength, because the course to victory may 
be long.
    In the past week, we have seen the American people at their very 
best everywhere in America. Citizens have come together to pray, to give 
blood, to fly our country's flag. Americans are coming together to share 
their grief and gain strength from one another.
    Great tragedy has come to us, and we are meeting it with the best 
that is in our country, with courage and concern for others because this 
is America. This is who we are. This is what our enemies hate and have 
attacked. And this is why we will prevail.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 8:55 a.m. in the Laurel Cabin at Camp 
David for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. The transcript was made available by 
the Office of the Press Secretary on September 15 but was embargoed for 
release until the broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of this address.

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