[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 2 (Monday, January 14, 2002)]
[Pages 20-24]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Parkrose High School in Portland, Oregon

January 5, 2002

    Well, thank you all very much for such a gracious and warm welcome. 
It's nice to be back here in Oregon. I'm impressed by the Mighty Ducks; 
they're awfully good. I wasn't a believer; now I am. [Laughter] They're 
good. Of course, they gave my Texas boys a good lesson last year, as I 
recall. [Laughter]
    But thanks for coming out on a Saturday afternoon to say hello. I 
was earlier in California, and then I'm here--went to a community 
college. You've got a wonderful community college here in the Portland 
area, which is worried about helping people find work. And I went by and 
saw the good instructors there that are trying to help people help 
themselves.
    And I come in here to be able to share some thoughts with you. And 
then I'm going to hustle on home for dinner--[laughter]--right there in 
Crawford, Texas.
    I want to thank Katie Harman for being here. It was a pleasure to 
meet your mayor. Mayor Katz, thank you for coming. It's very gracious 
for you to be here today.
    I picked a good man from Portland to represent us in New Zealand; 
that's my friend Butch Swindells, who is now the Ambassador to New 
Zealand.
    I spent a little time with some people that work for a company 
called InFocus, which is a company--[applause]. John, it sounds like you 
packed the crowd. [Laughter] Either that, or you've got a big family. 
[Laughter] But I want to thank John Harker and his team for coming to 
talk to me about how best they think we can stimulate growth. I want to 
thank them for employing people in this part of the world, for trying to 
figure out how to grow their economy, for worrying about their 
workforce, as well as making a quality product. I'm going to share some 
thoughts that John shared with me in a little bit. But I do want to 
thank you for coming.
    I also want to thank my friends Senator Gordon Smith and Greg 
Walden. They were hitchhiking in California and they needed--[laughter]. 
They were looking for a free ride, and Air Force One happened to be 
available. [Laughter] But they did fly down with me. I'm impressed by 
these two good men.
    We spent a lot of time talking about Oregon. They're deeply 
concerned about the fact that a lot of people aren't working; I am, too. 
They're deeply concerned about the fact that parts of your State are not 
being treated very well. We spent time talking about the Klamath Basin. 
I share their concern about people who make a living off the land. And I 
told these two good men that we'll do everything we can to make sure 
water is available for people who farm.
    I also want to thank two of the Congressmen from this area, Earl 
Blumenauer and Darlene Hooley, for being here, as well. Thank you so 
much for coming; I appreciate you being here. I know you had better 
things to do on Saturday afternoon, and here you are, stuck with me. 
[Laughter] Thanks for coming; it means a lot.
    You know, there were some--some of the things that are happening in 
Washington, I expected. And there was one thing that happened was not 
expected. It's been a heck of a year. [Laughter] I will tell you, before 
I get into the expected and unexpected, I believe 2002 is going to be a 
fabulous year for America.
    I remember meeting with business leaders in Austin, Texas--this is 
before I began heading north to become sworn in as your President--and 
there was deep concern about the

[[Page 21]]

economy then. A year ago December, people were saying, ``This economy is 
soft, and we're going to be in for a rough ride.'' It was not unexpected 
to see the economic slowdown. And I want to share some thoughts with you 
about how we can reverse the trend--although I'm optimistic about our 
economy. There are some numbers coming out that appear that things are 
getting a little better: The unemployment rate is 5.8 percent. But if 
you're unemployed, it's 100 percent, and I'm worried about that.
    The unexpected, obviously, was September the 11th, when evil people 
decided to attack America. I say ``evil people'' because I don't view 
this as a religious war. I view this as a struggle of good versus evil. 
And make no mistake about it, good will prevail.
    We are making steady progress in the first theater on the war 
against terror. We have made it clear to people that we weren't going to 
allow the injustice done to America to stand, and that if anybody 
harbored these people or fed them or clothed them or tried to provide 
them help, they were just as guilty as the terrorists were.
    These people are like parasites, and they find a host. And for those 
of you who ranch, you understand what a parasite can do to the host cow, 
for example; too many parasites weaken the host. What happened was, was 
that they became parasites in Afghanistan. But we weakened the host; the 
Taliban no longer is in power.
    And as a result, this great nation should be proud of the fact that 
we led a coalition that liberated women and children, a coalition that 
brought down a government that was so incredibly repressive it's hard 
for those of us who live in America to understand. Some of my finest 
memories thus far of this war against terror was the joy that came on 
people's faces when they realized that the Taliban would no longer hold 
them hostage to an outdated, outmoded, dictatorial point of view.
    I am so proud of our country. I'm proud of the fact that at the same 
time that we waged a war against Al Qaida and the Taliban, we fed the 
people. I read an important headline the other day that--it said it 
looked like we avoided a terrible disaster by providing food for 
thousands of people in Afghanistan. While we dropped bombs, we also 
dropped food and medicine and clothing to make sure that the innocents 
in Afghanistan could survive the brutal winter in that part of the 
world. We're a great nation.
    We're making steady progress, and I use the word ``steady'' because 
sometimes it seems like there is a certain impatience in the airwaves. 
But I don't believe there's an impatience amongst the American people. 
As a matter of fact, I think the American people are very patient. They 
understand this is a difficult assignment, and they understand, like I 
do, that we've got to be patient in order to be successful.
    But we've accomplished a lot in 90 days. That's not a very long 
period of time. It's been a long period of time for Al Qaida--
[laughter]--but it hasn't been a very long period of time for us.
    The reason we've had--we've got a good strategy, and we've got a 
great military. For those of you who serve in our military or for those 
of you whose sons or daughters or relatives serve in the military, thank 
you.
    But I do want to remind our fellow citizens that we're now in a 
dangerous phase of this war in Afghanistan, because those who are 
willing to send young people to their suicide death hide in caves, 
themselves, to save their own skin. And I told the world, just like I 
told the American people: You can hide, but we will smoke you out and 
bring you to justice.
    I'm so sorry to report that Sergeant Nathan Chapman lost his life 
yesterday. But I wanted--I want Sergeant Chapman's family to know that 
the cause for which he died is just and noble, the cause of freedom and 
the hope that our children and grandchildren will be able to grow up in 
a world that is free of the barbaric behavior of terrorism.
    We're on a mission, and we will not yield until the mission is 
complete. The war against terror is broader than just Afghanistan, and 
that is exactly what I have made clear to members of the vast coalition 
which we have put together. I said there are no shades of gray in this 
fight for civilization--there are no shades of gray. Either you're with 
the United States of America, or you're against the United States of 
America.

[[Page 22]]

    I'm sure there were some people who were anxious to sit on the fence 
for a while. But what they've come to realize is that this Nation, when 
aroused, is a mighty nation, a nation that, when we make up our mind 
we're going to do something, we're going to do it. We're going to shake 
terrorism loose wherever it exists and bring those to justice who have 
hurt America and bring those to justice who might hurt America.
    Let me tell you that part of this war is overseas, but part of it is 
here at home. My biggest job as your President is to make sure no one 
harms the American people. My biggest job is to rally the resources of 
this country, and have a homeland defense that will take every lead, 
every idea, every hint that somebody may harm us and rout them out, and 
give them a chance to protect America, and give them a chance to make 
this land secure.
    And if we find somebody who wants to harm America, who espouses the 
philosophy that's terrorist and bent, I can assure you we will bring 
that person to justice.
    This Nation is on alert, and it should be, but one of the things 
we're not going to let the terrorists do is to cause us not to behave 
like Americans and enjoy our freedoms and enjoy our neighborhoods and 
enjoy travel and enjoy the great wonders of our country. They think they 
can shut us down; they've got the wrong country they're dealing with.
    There is a new spirit in this country, and a unity that is so 
powerful and so real that even a fellow who is hermetically sealed in 
the White House can feel it. [Laughter] I am proud of the Nation.
    And we should not respond one way abroad and have a different 
attitude about issues that face us at home. Here's what I think: I think 
it's time for Congress to focus on what's best for America, and not 
political parties. I believe we need to set priorities and get positive 
things done.
    I'm getting ready to sign an education bill on Tuesday. My friends 
in Midland, Texas, will not believe it when they turn on C-SPAN or one 
of these other channels because I am going to stand up and say to the 
Nation: One, this is a good piece of legislation and, two, I want to 
thank Senator Ted Kennedy for working on it with me. He's done a fine 
job. It shows what's possible when you set aside party--listen, I'm a 
proud party man, but I'm American first, and that's what we ought to be 
dealing with when it comes to legislation. And there are troubling signs 
that some in the Nation's Capital want to go back to the old ways, and I 
don't think we ought to let them do that. I think we ought to focus on 
what's good for the country.
    And take the issue of the economy. Like yourselves, I'm deeply 
concerned about the fact that Oregon leads the country when it comes to 
unemployment, and we've got to do something about that. First, my 
principle is this: In tough times people need an unemployment check, but 
for the long term, what they need is a paycheck, and we've got to figure 
out how to get jobs going.
    I think it's very important for us to extend unemployment benefits, 
including monies to help people pay for their health care, for those 
whose lives were affected on 9/11. I think it's very important for our 
country to do this. I know there is the will to get that done in 
Washington, DC. It makes sense that we help people.
    I met with the people in the community college today, a chemical 
engineer and an electrical engineer who were reliant upon the high-tech 
world to make a living. They got laid off. They need these benefits so 
they can help themselves and be prepared when the economy recovers.
    But any economic stimulus plan must also expand the job base. We 
ought to be asking ourselves, what does it take to increase more jobs so 
people can find work? And that starts with understanding that the 
biggest job creators in America are the small businesses and 
entrepreneurs of America.
    I mentioned that last winter we got the indications that the economy 
was slowing down. And that's one of the reasons I fought so hard for tax 
relief. Because I understand that if the economy is growing down--
slowing down, the best thing to do is to give people their own money 
back. The best thing to do is--because the Government doesn't create 
wealth, the Government creates an environment in which the 
entrepreneurial spirit can flourish.
    There is an amazing new kind of economic theory working its way 
through Washington,

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and it said that tax relief causes recessions. [Laughter] I'm not 
exactly sure what economic book that came out of, but if you want to get 
your way out of a recession, you provide tax relief. The worst thing you 
can do--the worst thing you can do is raise taxes in a recession. And 
yet, some in Washington, DC, are talking about getting rid of the tax 
cuts. I can't think of anything worse for growing our economy. The 
answer to those who want to raise taxes is: No, you're not going to 
raise taxes.
    Most small businesses are sole proprietorships or, perhaps, a 
limited partnership. And when you cut personal income taxes, you're 
really affecting the ability of small businesses to grow. The question 
we ought to ask is, how do you expand the job base?
    I spent time with John and the people of his good company. I like 
the idea of providing incentives to encourage corporate America to make 
investments in capital which is equal to jobs eventually. We ought to 
have an economic stimulus package that says, let's create more jobs for 
the American people. And we ought to get on about the American people's 
business--put politics aside and come together and do what's right for 
this country.
    We have the ingredients for a plan. There's a bill that came out of 
the House; there was one that could have come out of the Senate; the 
votes were there. And so I just hope some of the Senators that kind of 
stood in the way of getting an economic plan done listen to the people 
and hear the voices of the people and come back and do what's right for 
the country.
    I'll tell you something about America: The people are the true 
strength of this country. And we can talk about Government all we want 
to talk about, but the thing that makes this country great is our 
people. I have been so proud of the American people. I love the stories 
that had to do with the aftermath of September the 11th. When they heard 
that women of cover, women of the Muslim faith, were worried about going 
outside their home because somebody might take severe action against 
them, Jewish women and Christian women in the suburb of Detroit called 
up on the phone and said, ``We want to help you go to the store. We want 
to provide whatever comfort we can so you can go about your lives.'' 
That's the America I know, and that's the America I love.
    It's been an amazing event--series of events that have taken place. 
One of the most heartening things for me is to know that thousands of 
Americans are reassessing their values. Moms and dads are asking what 
they can do to be better parents--that, as a result of the evildoer, not 
only are we responding militarily and not only have we put this broad 
coalition together that says we'll rid the world of terror, but here at 
home people are saying, ``Gosh, let me reassess my life.'' It's so 
important for moms and dads to know that the most important job they 
will ever have is to love their children with all their heart and all 
their soul.
    I'm so pleased to report to you that the great fabric of the 
country, in terms of helping people, exists because of faith-based 
institutions, regardless of their religion; all across neighborhoods in 
America, that people are asking the question, ``What can I do to help''; 
that the great mosaic of America is made up of the millions of acts of 
kindness which takes place every single day. September the 11th was an 
attack on our country, but it didn't affect our heart; it didn't affect 
our soul.
    My great hope for the year 2002 is that people who want to work can 
find a job.
    My hope is that our military is safe in their mission. I understand 
the war on terror is going to beyond probably 2002. I have no 
unrealistic aspirations about a calendar, a quick calendar.
    But my true hope, as well, is that the great compassion of America 
and the value system that has made us so different and so unique 
continues to be vibrant and strong; that people, when they want to know 
how to help America, turn to a neighbor in need and say, ``I want to 
help, to provide comfort for a child who may need a loving mentor,'' to 
say to somebody elderly on your block, ``Gosh, I want to provide you 
company.''
    That's the great--that's my hope for the country, that our 
compassion continues to well up and that this great American experience 
continues to touch every possible heart. I pray for peace, I pray for 
prosperity, and I pray for the greatest land on the face of the Earth--
America.
    Thank you.

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Note: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. in the school's Aldo Rossi Field 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Katie Harman, Miss America 2002; 
Mayor Vera Katz of Portland; Charles J. Swindells, U.S. Ambassador to 
New Zealand; John V. Harker, president and chief executive officer, 
InFocus Corp.; Representative Greg Walden of Oregon; and Sfc. Nathan 
Ross Chapman, USA, who was killed January 4 by hostile fire in 
Afghanistan.