[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 51 (Monday, December 24, 2001)]
[Pages 1813-1817]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the New Oval Office Carpet and an Exchange With Reporters

December 21, 2001

Review of 2001

    The President. Don't step on the new rug! [Laughter]
    We wanted you to see the new rug. It's a tradition for each 
President to design a rug. And Laura helped design this rug, and I think 
she did a fantastic job, as you can see. It's just beautiful.
    That's the seal in the middle. The border here has got a little 
Texan in it.
    The First Lady. We have the Lone Star.
    The President. The Lone Star. The rays are, I think, very dramatic. 
And so we wanted you to come by and take a look at it.
    The other thing is, it's been an extraordinary year for us. We will 
continue to ask the good Lord's blessings on America during the holiday 
season, particularly on those who suffered incredible loss. And we--I 
hope our soldiers are safe overseas. We appreciate the job they do.
    I'm real proud of how the administration and our Government has 
responded to the attacks on America: Got a good strategy in the first 
phase of the war, to rout terror; held the doctrine that says that we 
will bring the murderers to justice and we will hold those accountable 
who help the murderers; responded quickly to threats to our homeland. 
Tom Ridge is doing a really good job in coordinating with those whose 
job it is to keep America safe.
    Every morning I come into the desk, and I would read the threat 
assessments to America. And it reminds me that my most important job of 
all is to protect the American people from further attack.
    On the domestic front, I'm really pleased with what's happened in 
the Congress to get the education bill, a significant piece of education 
reform that believes that the Nation should have high standards for 
every single child and that we ought to make sure that when we spend 
money that there's results. And along those lines, we also--this bill 
trusts the local governments to make many decisions about educating 
children.

[[Page 1814]]

    We also recognize there's a Federal responsibility to make sure that 
we help schools achieve a very important goal, and that is every child 
learn to read, something that Laura's been very much involved in.
    I'm pleased that we were able to pass the tax relief plan that gave 
working people their own--let them keep their own money. It turned out 
to be--by simplifying the code and dropping the bottom rate, for 
example, to 10 percent, as well as making sure that there's a child 
credit, increasing the child credit, getting rid of the death tax--all 
the tax measures were very fortuitous because the economy began to slow 
down in March. And I strongly believe that by providing the first phase 
of tax relief, it helped cushion what could have been a very, very hard 
landing.
    In the House, we passed an energy plan. It's the first time an 
administration laid out an energy plan. And the House passed it; it's 
stuck in the Senate. I'm pleased that a good piece of environmental 
policy was passed last night and that I intend to sign, which is the 
brownsfield legislation, legislation that will help cities around 
America clean up all industrial sites. It's really good work, bipartisan 
work. We've worked closely with members of both parties to get the bill 
passed, and I look forward to signing that.
    The Faith-Based Initiative is such a vital initiative for making 
sure that there's something beyond welfare for people who have lost hope 
in life. And that bill passed the House. I look forward to working with 
the Senate sponsors, Senator Lieberman and Senator Santorum, to get it 
past the Senate. We need to get a Patients' Bill of Rights done--Bill of 
Rights done next year.
    I must tell you, I'm disappointed that the Senate did not follow up 
on the opportunity to pass a stimulus package that would have taken care 
of workers. We worked really hard with members of both parties to get 
legislation that would do two things: one, help workers by extending 
unemployment insurance, as well as helping with their health care; and 
then there was a--part of the package that would encourage investment 
and job creation. It just didn't get done, and that's a big 
disappointment. I know there was enough votes to get it out of the 
Senate, had there been the will to get the bill done. And maybe early 
next year we can work on it again.
    But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me. We're so 
grateful to be living in this compound, and I'm grateful to be working 
in this office. It's a joy to walk in here every morning, realizing that 
I'm the President of the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
    Anything you want to say?
    The First Lady. Happy holidays to everybody. Very happy New Year.
    The President. Why don't you say something about the rug?
    The First Lady. Do you want to hear more about the rug?
    Q. Where was it made?
    The President. Thank you, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News]. [Laughter]
    The First Lady. It was made, actually, in New York. Edward Fields is 
the company. I went and watched as it was being made. They have--it was 
very interesting. They have huge racks the rug is up on, and then they 
developed this electric needle that sort of looks like a drill, and the 
yarn is actually sort of painted on with this electric drill.
    We took a long time working on the design of it, and the colors. We 
went back and forth several times with strike-offs on the colors until 
we got what we liked. I think it's really pretty. They've done a 
beautiful job.
    In late January, we're going to ask everyone who had to do with the 
Oval Office--Scalamandre, who made the couches and--the fabric on the 
couches; Brunschwig, the fabric on the drapes; the Drapery House, which 
is also out of New York, that made them; the museums that loaned these 
paintings from Texas; Tom Lea's widow, Sarah Lea; W.H.D. Koerner's son, 
who we found through Joey O'Neill, who loaned that painting to us. So 
we'll ask you back at that time to meet all the people who had something 
to do with the decorating of the Oval Office.
    Q. Mr. President, can we ask you----
    The President. Sure.

Situation in Afghanistan

    Q. Do you think that perhaps the cease-fires and the talks about 
possible surrender

[[Page 1815]]

negotiations gave bin Laden a chance to sneak out of Afghanistan or----
    The President. Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press], I don't know 
where he is. I haven't heard much from him recently. And--which means he 
could be in a cave that doesn't have an opening to it anymore or could 
be in a cave where he can get out or may have tried to slither out into 
neighboring Pakistan. We don't know. But I will tell you this: We're 
going to find him.
    And one of the things I said early on in this war was that--I told 
the American people that this administration would be patient and would 
be relentless. And you're talking to a patient man when it comes to 
achieving the objectives, because I understand the degree of difficulty 
has increased significantly.
    The first part of the objective was to destroy the Taliban's 
military. That was relatively easy. Secondly, the objective was to hold 
those accountable who had harbored Al Qaida. It took a while, but once 
we were able to bring our military strength, made our military 
strength--air strength, in particular--with boots on the ground, 
commitment of troops, it unfolded well.
    Now we're on the hunt. And we're chasing one or two, three or four, 
20 individuals at a time. And this is pretty rugged country, as you 
know. And so we're slowly but surely chasing down every single lead. And 
as our friends and allies take over more and more of the country and as 
the new Government gets, in the beginning, gets into place, we'll 
continue to get good intelligence, and we'll continue to chase Mr. bin 
Laden and others--Abu Zabeda, Zawahiri. I could give you the list of 
names.
    But if they think they can hide from the United States, they're 
making a terrible mistake again. And we'll get him; we'll bring him to 
justice. I wish I could give you the exact moment, but I can't. And 
frankly, since this administration is in the fight against terror for 
the long pull, I am not the least bit anxious about bringing a 
particular individual to justice. I know that we've disrupted the Al 
Qaida network.
    Today I was briefed that there are hundreds of Al Qaida fighters 
being held hostage. And by the way, we're in the process of developing a 
system to deal with each and every fighter, depending upon the nature of 
the fighter--how to deal with them legally. And I've instructed the 
National Security Council to take their time and to come up with a 
process to deal with foreign Al Qaida fighters, Taliban, Walker. I have 
no answer on Walker yet because I want the process to be able to address 
all the different circumstances that may arise, and then we'll be able 
to brief the country as to how we're going to deal with these people.

John Walker

    Q. Are you nearing, though, a decision? Can you describe who you're 
consulting with, and have you----
    The President. Well, I tasked the National Security Council to work 
up a strategy on how to deal with each and every person that we capture. 
And obviously, Walker is unique in that he's the first American Al Qaida 
fighter that we have captured. And we will announce to the country when 
we have made up our mind on all--on how to deal with a wide variety of 
cases.
    Walker, himself, is being well-treated on a ship of ours that is--I 
suspect he's finding his berth a little better than it was when he was 
placed in the prison in Afghanistan. And we've heard, the administration 
has heard from his lawyer, and we've told his lawyer that at the 
appropriate time we'll let everybody know, including his family, how 
we're going to proceed with Walker, as well as others that have become 
captured during this war.
    But no, we don't have an announcement today.
    Q. And nothing has been ruled out? Like treason--have you ruled out 
treason?
    The President. No, nothing has been ruled out because I want to 
make--obviously, every decision we make at this point will set precedent 
for future decisions. And I want us to fully think through all the 
ramifications of the different options. And Defense and the Justice 
Department are taking the lead on preparing a strategy.
    This ought to be a strategy, by the way, that when we capture 
somebody who has a certain characteristic to him, that then the process 
ought to automatically kick in as to how that person is dealt with. And 
I think

[[Page 1816]]

we owe that to the country, to take our time. And then I'll make it 
clear--somebody will make it clear once the decision is made.

Economic Stimulus Package

    Q. Sir, would you consider bringing--or asking Congress to come back 
early and finish the economic stimulus?
    The President. No.
    Q. Are you angry at anyone in Congress?
    The President. No, I'm not angry at all. I'm joyous. I welcome the 
holiday season. No, but I don't intend to bring them back early.
    Q. What is the impact of not passing a stimulus before the end of 
the year?
    The President. Well, the impact was it was disappointing.
    Q. What about for the American people?
    The President. Well, we'll just have to see. We'll have to see what 
the effects are. And we'll have time when they come back to take a 
looksee at the state of the economy. We're continuing to get mixed 
signals. Hopefully, the economy will be good, but we'll just have to--
we'll deal with it when we get back.
    But I think the people, a lot of people are going to ask the 
question, why couldn't they get something done? And one of my jobs was 
to facilitate an agreement. And I went up to Capitol Hill, as you know--
one of my rare appearances up there--and sat down with Democrats and 
Republicans from both bodies who had made the commitment to work 
together to get a bill. And there was a great--it's a very good bill, by 
the way--billions of dollars of help for displaced workers. And the will 
to get something done just wasn't there.
    Q. Mr. President, do you think a stimulus is a must?
    The President. Is a----
    Q. Is a must.
    The President. Oh, a must. We'll see. I thought it was important to 
get a good stimulus package out, as well as I thought it was very 
important to take care of displaced workers. And the bill that I 
supported and my administration helped craft with both the Democrats and 
Republicans would have done just that. But we'll see when we come back 
and take a look.

Nature of the Coalition

    Q. Mr. President, you had said that the next phase of the war 
following the defeat of the military in Afghanistan would be hunting 
down these groups wherever they--across the globe and that countries who 
didn't work with us were against us. So do we have any sort of timelines 
or goals that we've set up for these countries where we know Al Qaida 
and other groups that we've put on our list of terrorism are 
functioning, where we're going to say at a certain point, you're not 
doing as much as we had expected of you?
    The President. Yes, I hear what you're saying. Well, I also said 
that sometimes the war will take place and actions will take place that 
the American people won't be able to see. And by that I mean that this 
is a multifront war that will be effective when we cut off money or 
encourage governments to round up Al Qaida cells. And we are encouraging 
governments to try to round up and sometimes--and bring to justice Al 
Qaida cells.
    But it wouldn't be very wise for me to describe those to you because 
the Al Qaida cell we're trying to round up may flee. But yes, we're 
constantly talking to countries, reminding them that if you're with us, 
perform. I'm a performance-oriented person; I believe in results.
    And many of the world leaders that have been here in the Oval Office 
will tell you that one of the strong messages that I send is, ``Thank 
you for your condolences. I appreciate your flowers. Now arrest somebody 
if they're in your country, and we will help you. We'll give you the 
intelligence necessary to show you who they are and where they are. And 
we will--if you need be, we'll be glad to lend some troops.'' Now, that 
hasn't happened yet, but the enemy needs to know that we're on the hunt. 
And part of being--and friends need to know, if you're a member of the 
coalition, we expect you to perform.
    Q. Are there any--I mean, obviously, you're not going to delineate 
for us the conversations that are happening, but are there any phone 
calls going to countries, friends, or allies----

[[Page 1817]]

    The President. All the time. All the time we're reminding people 
that this is a performance-oriented world. If you want to win the war on 
terror, you must perform. And a good area, for example, is in the 
financial area, where we're constantly working with nations to help them 
chase down money that is moving illegally. There's a lot of cooperation.
    But you asked a very interesting question--do you keep a scorecard? 
And the answer is, I do. I do, because I'm an old baseball guy, and I 
like to keep the score. I like to see who's performing and who's not 
performing. It's a part of being a coalition.
    Tommy Franks said something interesting the other day--and by the 
way, he was one year ahead of Laura at Midland Lee High School. 
[Laughter] They were ``Fighting Rebels'' together. [Laughter] But Tommy 
said, ``This war--the phase of this war is kind of like a baseball 
game.'' Of course, my ears perked up. He said, ``There will be a lot of 
moments of boredom, and then there would be some great joy as we''--what 
he was saying was that we're in a slow pursuit to achieve the objective 
that Ron talked about.
    Last question.

Domestic Security

    Q. Sir, can you say that the country is more secure today and less 
vulnerable to terrorism than it was before September 11th?
    The President. Yes, sir. The country is more secure today and less 
vulnerable to attack than before September the 11th because the enemy 
has made it clear that we are a target, and we responded.
    America never dreamt before September the 11th anybody would attack 
us. We knew there were threats. During the summer there had been some 
threats to overseas assets that we responded to. But we really never 
felt that--we had the sense that we're invulnerable. And now they've 
made it clear that they're not afraid to attack us.
    And so, one, we're aware. Secondly, we have got a much better system 
of sharing information--information we gather overseas to agencies here 
at home. When we get a hint--and by the way, as a result of the 
coalition, there is much more intelligence-sharing going on. So 
oftentimes we'll get a lead from an intelligence service, say in the 
Middle East or in Europe, and that piece of information will be analyzed 
and passed immediately on to the FBI, that has now shifted its culture 
from one of doing important work, like white-collar crime or spy-on-spy 
work, to prevention. That is the most, primary job of the FBI, is to 
prevent a further attack.
    And there's over 4,000 agents working on every single lead we get--
leads that sometimes prove to be false but sometimes indicate that there 
could be somebody here in the country that is--intends to do us harm. 
And we will use whatever resources necessary to haul them in if that's 
the case.
    So yes, the country is safer. Is it still--totally safe? No. And 
that's why, as I've told you, my main job, my main worry for America is 
to prevent another attack. Every morning at 6:50 a.m. in the morning, I 
come in here, and I think about the possibilities. And every day I meet 
with the FBI Director and Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft, along with George 
Tenet, reminding them that we have an awesome responsibility to do 
whatever we can to protect the American people. And we've made great 
progress since September the 11th.
    The American people need to know that even though we go into a 
holiday season, this Government will be doing everything we can to keep 
our country safe. We're keeping CAPs up, we're keeping--those are 
military flights around--just to make sure if somebody tries to attack 
us, there will be--we'll have the measures in place to prevent it.
    Listen, I hope you all have a great holiday. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the 
Egyptian Islamic Jihad; and Gen. Tommy Franks, USA, commander in chief, 
U.S. Central Command. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.