[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 38 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[Pages 1342-1344]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Congressional Leaders and an Exchange 
With Reporters

September 19, 2001

    The President. I want to welcome the members of the leadership of 
the Congress here, and I want the Nation to know how proud I am of how 
they have helped unite our country. Senator Daschle and the Speaker and 
Senator Lott and Representative Gephardt have really showed that in 
times of emergency and crisis, that our Government can function in a way 
that is just exemplary. And I want to thank them for coming down.
    I'm also so pleased to accept the invitation of the Speaker and the 
leaders to come and address the Congress tomorrow night. I look forward 
to the opportunity, to explaining to the American people who it is and 
who would do this to our great country, and why--why would people choose 
America? A lot of our citizens have got a lot of questions about what 
has taken place on September the 11th and subsequent to that, and I owe 
it to the country to give an explanation. And I want to thank the 
Congress for giving me a chance. I can't think of a better place than to 
talk about freedom and the battle to maintain

[[Page 1343]]

freedom in one of the greatest halls of freedom, and that is in the 
United States Congress.
    So, thank you for the invitation. I accept wholeheartedly, and I 
will see you all tomorrow night.
    I would be glad to answer a couple of questions. Ron [Ron Fournier, 
Associated Press]?

Public Safety

    Q. Mr. President, will you be able to tell all Americans whether 
they're going to be safe while you prepare to retaliate, or could 
terrorists strike again while we prepare for war?
    The President. Ron, I think America needs to know that we in 
Government are on alert, that we recognize life around the White House 
or around the Congress is not normal or is not the way it used to be 
because we're very aware that people have conducted an act of war on our 
country, and that all of us urge our fellow Americans to go back to work 
and to work hard, but we must be on alert. Our Government is working 
hard to make sure that we run down every lead, every opportunity, to 
find someone who would want to hurt any American.
    The American people are united. They're united in their resolve to 
help heal the Nation. But they're also united in the understanding that 
we've entered into a new day, and we'll deal with it.

Role of Religions

    Q. Sir, you've been stressing that this is not a war against Islam. 
However, there are some around the world who view the coming battle 
along religious lines. I'm wondering how worried you are that some view 
this as a holy war, and are declarations of jihad at all affecting U.S. 
plans?
    The President. I appreciate that question. First of all, it is so 
important for my fellow Americans, as well as everybody in the world to 
understand that America will hold those evildoers accountable. We don't 
view this as a war of religion, in any way, shape, or form. As a matter 
of fact, Islam preaches peace. The Muslim faith is a peaceful faith, and 
there are millions of good Americans who practice the Muslim faith who 
love their country as much as I love the country, who salute the flag as 
strongly as I salute the flag.
    And for those who try to pit religion against religion, our great 
Nation will stand up and reject that kind of thought. We won't allow 
that to creep into the consciousness of the world. We're going to lead 
the world to fight for freedom, and we'll have Muslim and Jew and 
Christian side by side with us.

Social Security Surplus

    Q. Mr. President, you promised only to dip into the Social Security 
surplus in an emergency, a recession, or war. And in your words, this 
constitutes a war. How much of the Social Security surplus are you 
prepared to spend?
    The President. We are--not only has someone conducted an act of war 
on us; our economy has slowed way down; and this is an emergency. We've 
had all three, it seems like to me. And I'm going to work with Congress 
to send a clear message to America, American workers, American business 
people, that this Government will respond to this emergency.
    We'll respond to the emergency in terms of working on a package for 
the airline industry that has been severely affected. We'll respond to 
work to fight terrorism. The Congress has already responded with a 
supplemental that will not only help fund our military but, as 
importantly, will send a clear message to the people of New York and New 
Jersey and Connecticut that we'll help you rebuild.
    And this is exactly the subject we talked about. The definition of 
how much--is enough to get America going again as to be able to endure 
this emergency.
    Q. And if that means all the surplus, are you prepared to spend all 
the surplus?
    The President. We're reasonable people. The Members here, the 
leaders from the Congress, are very reasonable. And they are mindful 
about Government money as well as anybody else. But we're dedicated--
we're dedicated to saying to the American people, ``This is an 
emergency, the likes of which we have not seen in a long time in this 
country, and this Government will come together and deal with it.'' And 
that's exactly what's going to happen.

[[Page 1344]]

National Economy

    Q. Sorry to ask another one, but did you mean to say just now that 
we are in a recession? You said, ``It looks to me like we've got all 
three.''
    The President. No, I said--well, I said--let me put it this way--
tough economic times. There's no question it's tough times. And Ron, I 
don't have all the numbers, but let me just say this: I can pick up all 
the statistics, but make no mistake about it, this has affected our 
economy in a big way. Now, I've still got faith that we'll recover. The 
strength of the American economy has always been our entrepreneurial 
spirit and our workers, and that's still prevalent. But you've seen the 
statistics on the airlines--they're beginning to lay off people. Big 
airline manufacturing companies responding. And this government will 
respond.
    Now, I don't have--don't get me wrong--I don't have all the numbers 
at my disposal because they have to start counting them up, but this has 
shocked our economy. And we're going to respond. And that's exactly what 
this leadership and I have been talking about.

Support From Pakistan

    Q. Mr. President, do you feel like you've got the full support of 
President Musharraf? And how hard is it going to be for him to live up 
to his pledges, given his domestic situation?
    The President. Well, there's no question that President Musharraf 
has taken a bold position, which is to say he will work to the extent he 
can with America and our allies as we deal with the prime suspect in the 
case. And we appreciate so very much his statement of support. I said 
we'll give the President a chance to perform, and I believe he has 
done--done so. We will work and consult closely with Pakistan and India 
to make sure that that part of the world is as stable as can possibly be 
stable.
    Let me say that, in terms of foreign policy and in terms of the 
world, this horrible strategy has provided us with an interesting 
opportunity. One of the opportunities is in the Middle East. I'm pleased 
with the fact that Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Sharon have taken 
positive steps toward bringing peace to the region. I think we have an 
opportunity to refashion the thinking between Pakistan and India. I 
think there's some interesting opportunities to shake terrorism loose 
from sponsor states.
    And this Government, working with Congress, are going to seize the 
moment. Out of our tears I said I see opportunity, and we will seek 
opportunity, positive developments from this horrible tragedy that has 
befallen our Nation.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 4:39 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, the President referred to President Pervez 
Musharraf of Pakistan; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority; and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.