[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 2 (Monday, January 14, 2002)]
[Pages 44-46]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on 
the United States Act, 2002, in Arlington, Virginia

January 10, 2002

    The President. Thank you very much. At ease. [Laughter] I always 
love being introduced by a matinee television idol. [Laughter] Who would 
have thought it? [Laughter]
    Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Not my wife.
    The President. Only his mother. [Laughter] Thanks so much, Mr. 
Secretary. He's doing a fabulous job.
    Secretary Rumsfeld. Thank you.
    The President.He really is. And so are the men and women who work in 
this building, and the men and women who wear the uniform. We're really 
proud of you.
    I'm honored to sign this bill because the Nation owes the men and 
women of the military our full measure of respect and our full measure 
of support. We owe you decent pay and a decent quality of life. We owe 
you the best leadership and training. We owe you the best equipment and 
weaponry. We owe you, our service men and women, our best, because we 
owe you our freedom.
    This bill, which includes both this year's defense appropriations 
and emergency supplemental spending, keeps the commitment to our 
military and keeps the commitments of our country. It was passed with 
bipartisan support in the Congress. It will be implemented by this fine 
Secretary, and a fine Deputy Secretary in Paul Wolfowitz.
    As Commander in Chief, I'm really proud to sign this bill here in 
the Pentagon. It shows that at an hour when freedom is under attack, 
America is steady and standing tall in freedom's defense. I too want to 
thank the Members of the United States Congress who are here, 
particularly Chairman Bill Young. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for coming. 
Senator Dorgan, I appreciate you being here, sir. Rodney, thank you for 
coming, and Jim and George. I guess you're supposed to be formal with 
the Senate and informal with the House. But thank you all for taking 
time to be here. It's a kind gesture for you to come.
    I also want to thank the members of the Joint Chiefs and the 
leadership of our military who are on the stage with me here. Dick Myers 
is doing a fabulous job. He is steady; he is strong. He sends such an 
important signal throughout our military that we mean business, we're a 
no-nonsense group of people who have got one thing in mind, and that is 
victory.

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    I remember talking about our plans with the Secretary and others in 
my administration. And as we set our plans, there was no question that 
our military was ready. The Secretary made that clear; Dick Myers made 
that clear; Hugh Shelton made that clear. And since September the 11th, 
the skill, the daring, and the courage of our men and women in uniform 
is now clear to all. It's clear to your fellow Americans, and it's clear 
to those who try to hide in caves.
    We have liberated a nation from oppression, and we've saved many 
people from starvation. I like to remind my fellow Americans there is 
nothing more joyous to my heart than to see our military liberate women 
who have lived under the most oppressive regime in the history of 
mankind. This cause is noble, and this cause is just. And we will stay 
on this cause until we have achieved our objective. You're delivering 
justice--not revenge but justice--to agents of terror. And you're making 
this Nation proud.
    America recently has been reminded that in our quest to defend 
freedom--and really in our quest to save civilization--there are 
enormous sacrifices, and no more greater sacrifice than loss of life. 
And like the Secretary, I extend my prayers and sympathies to the moms 
and dads and the wives and sons and daughters of those who have lost 
their life. But as I told the young lady the other day when I called 
her, whose husband had died, I said, ``Please tell your children that he 
died for a just cause.'' Sacrifices are made willingly by volunteers. 
And having traveled our Nation a little bit, I can assure you, you're in 
the midst of a grateful people.
    In our global campaign against global terror, our military must have 
every resource, every tool, every weapon, and every advantage you need 
for the missions to come.
    The bill I'm about to sign makes a downpayment on an essential 
commitment: We will give our forces everything they need to defeat 
global terror. Overall, this year's defense bill provides nearly 30 
billion more than the amount enacted for the fiscal year 2001. The 
emergency supplemental measure provides another 3.5 billion on top of 
that.
    Yet, even more important than these numbers are the priorities they 
represent. First of all, the bill contains funding for pay increases of 
up to 15 percent for service members, with an average increase of 6.9 
percent. The bill reduces out-of-pocket housing costs from 15 percent to 
11 percent and puts us on a track towards eliminating this burden 
altogether by the year 2005. In addition, the bill also fully funds the 
health care of active duty members and their families and provides 3.9 
billion for health care benefits for military retirees over 65 and their 
families.
    We can never pay our men and women in uniform on a scale that 
matches the magnitude of their sacrifice. But this bill reflects our 
respect for your selfless service.
    Today, more than ever, we also owe those in uniform the resources 
they need to maintain a very high state of readiness. Our enemies rely 
upon surprise and deception. They used to rely upon the fact that they 
thought we were soft. I don't think they think that way anymore.
    Our forces must be ready to deploy to any point on the globe on 
short notice. This bill increases operation and maintenance by over $8 
billion. This Nation must have and will have ready forces that can bring 
victory to our country and safety to our people.
    The world's best soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines also deserve 
the world's best weaponry. To ensure that, our Nation must invest in 
procurement accounts. This defense bill contains about $61 billion for 
procurement. This Nation must give our military the weapons it needs to 
meet the threats of our future. If the war against terror means that we 
must find terror wherever it exists and pull it out by its roots and 
bring people to justice, our military must have the means to achieve the 
objective.
    This bill is just the beginning to make sure that that happens. Our 
Nation must also look even farther into the future, so that the next 
generations of weaponry take advantage of our Nation's decisive 
technological edge. That's why I'm pleased to see that this year's 
defense bill contains almost $50 billion for research and development, 
including nearly $8 billion for missile defense.
    My administration is committed to transforming our forces, with 
innovative doctrine and strategy and weaponry. This will allow us to 
revolutionize the battlefield of the future and to keep the peace by 
defining war

[[Page 46]]

on our terms. It's a great goal, and it's a great opportunity, one 
granted to few nations in history. And with the leadership of the 
Secretary, we will seize this opportunity.
    And finally, I'm pleased that the emergency supplemental funding in 
this bill is going to allow us to meet some of our urgent priorities. In 
addition to the 3.5 billion to help prosecute the war on terror, the 
bill contains 8.2 billion to help New York, Virginia, Maryland, the 
District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania recover from the attacks by the 
evil ones. It also devotes an additional 8.4 billion to homeland 
security.
    We're working hard to make sure that our homeland is secure. But the 
best way to secure America's future is to bring the terrorists to 
justice and to say to those who think they can hide them, ``You, too, 
are just as guilty as the murderers if you think you can hide them and 
provide them aid and provide them comfort.'' We will build the security 
of America by fighting our enemies abroad and protecting our folks here 
at home. And we are committed, this administration, and the Congress is 
committed to these most important goals.
    These are good bills that will help America in time of need. And I 
appreciate the spirit on Capitol Hill that led to its passage. I look 
forward to working with the Congress as we build our Nation's strength 
and security. I look forward to working for next year's budget, with the 
priorities of winning this war and defending our homeland. I'm confident 
that the spirit that prevailed in late fall will spill over into this 
year, as we continue to remember the great goals that face this Nation.
    It is now my honor, in the heart, in the headquarters of the 
greatest military in the world, to sign the Department of Defense and 
emergency supplemental appropriations act. Thank you all for your 
hospitality. Stay on course. Find the enemy. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 1:25 p.m. in the auditorium, room 5A1070, 
at the Pentagon. In his remarks, he referred to Representatives Rodney 
P. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, James P. Moran of Virginia, and George 
R. Nethercutt, Jr., of Washington; and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, USA 
(Ret.), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. H.R. 3338, 
approved January 10, was assigned Public Law No. 107-117.