[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 5 (Monday, February 4, 2002)]
[Pages 148-151]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Arrival in Daytona Beach, Florida

January 30, 2002

    The President. Thank you all. I'm glad to be back in the great State 
of Florida. I love to come to States where they've got a great Governor. 
As Americans make their travel plans, more of us need to think about 
coming to Florida.
    One of the last times I came was when I went to the racetrack owned 
by Mr. France, right next door to here, where Teresa's good husband was 
driving cars. It was such an honor to be with Mr. France and his wife 
and Teresa Earnhardt. And may God rest Dale's soul, and may God bless 
her family, too.
    I don't know if you all know this, but you sent a good one up to 
represent you in Congress, John Mica. And I appreciate John being here. 
In politics, they've got the talkers, and they've got the doers. John is 
a doer. I worked closely with him on an airport security bill that will 
make sure that, when Americans get on their airplanes, it is as safe as 
can possibly be. And I want to thank John for his leadership and his 
hard work on this vital piece of legislation.
     I know we've got some from the statehouse in particular--the 
Speaker of the House Feeney. I'm so honored that people came down from 
Tallahassee to say hello to Jeb's ``little'' big brother. [Laughter] I 
am so thrilled to be here.
     I hope I didn't speak to long last night.
    Audience members. No-o-o!
    The President. I didn't mean to keep people up too late, but I had 
something to say. The state of our Union is strong; this is a great 
nation. We've got some challenges ahead, but this country is going to 
rise to the challenges.
    We've got a big task ahead, and that is to rid the world of terror. 
I know people say, ``What does that mean?'' Well, it means that in order 
to keep America safe, we've got to make it clear to any person who 
thinks they want to be a terrorist that this great Nation and its 
coalition will find you and bring you to justice. It means that if you 
harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, 
you're just as guilty as a terrorist.
    Our mission is more than just Afghanistan, although we've been 
pretty darn successful there, thanks to the United States military. And 
for those of you who have a loved one in our military or in the 
military, I want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. I'm so 
proud--I'm so proud of the men and women who wear our uniform.
     And you need to be proud, too. We've sent them into a tough 
mission, and they've accomplished that mission exactly the way that I 
hoped they would. We routed the Taliban, and by the way, there's nothing 
that makes me more joyous than to know our great military have been 
liberators, liberators of oppressed women and children, liberating 
people from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in the 
history of mankind.
    We're still in that theater. We will be in that theater with our 
military until we bring Al Qaida to justice. This is a dangerous phase 
of the first theater in the war on terror because there's a lot of 
caves. And we're trying to find people who, on the one hand, send 
youngsters to their death and, on the other hand, hide. On the one hand, 
they say, ``It's okay for you to go kill yourself.'' And on the other 
hand, they're running and hiding.
    But see, what they don't understand about this Nation is we are 
patient; we are determined; we are steadfast. We're going to keep them 
running, and one of these days, we'll bring them to justice.
    But the mission is more than just Afghanistan and Al Qaida. We need 
not be focused on one person, because we're fighting for freedom and 
civilized civilization. We fight to make sure our children and our 
children's children can grow up in a peaceful world, a world based upon 
values that respect dignity of life and the individual--values, 
universal values.
    We fight evil people, people who want to murder us, people who hate 
America and what we stand for. And that's why we'll be relentless and 
steady. The world looks to us for leadership. If we blink, they may go 
to

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sleep. That's why we're not going to blink. That's why we're going to be 
after them. That's why we're going to disrupt their finances. That's why 
we're going to hold people account. That's why we're going to say, ``If 
you develop weapons of mass destruction and you aim and ruin the 
security of us or our allies, we will hold you accountable.'' That's why 
this Nation is going to stand tall and strong and not relent in the face 
of terror.
    My biggest job is to secure our homeland. I walk into that 
magnificent Oval Office in the morning, and I look at a threat 
assessment, where the enemy may try to hit us again. And make no mistake 
about it, they'd like to. My biggest job is to rally the resources of 
our Government to prevent anything from happening to the innocent life 
in America. And I take it seriously, and so does our Government. We're 
doing everything in our power to seek down leads, to alert people if 
necessary, to gather as much intelligence as we can and share it 
quickly.
    The Federal Bureau of Investigation's major mission now is to keep 
the homeland safe, is to prevent another attack. So for all the law 
enforcement officials who are here, I want to thank you very much for 
your diligence, your hard work, for keeping your eyes and ears alert.
    Traveling around the country, talking about a homeland initiative 
that's going to enhance more spending for--to fight bioterrorism; more 
money for first-responders, like the fire and the police, to make sure 
the emergency plans are in place; more money for the health agencies 
around the country; more money to make sure that we understand who's 
coming into our country and who leaves our country; more money--
[applause] No, they've put us on notice, and we're after them. The best 
way to secure our homeland in the long term, however, is to take this 
war wherever a terrorist tries to hide and get them. And that's exactly 
what we're going to do.
    I sent a budget--one of the things a President does is put out a 
budget. I sent a budget up. It starts with this number one priority: If 
you wear our uniform, you deserve the best training, the best equipment, 
and another pay raise. The second budget request I put in there is for a 
homeland security, and the third is for job security. I know there are 
some people hurting in this State, and my interest is to make sure we do 
wise things to increase the job base. We're going to help people with an 
unemployment check, but what Americans want is a steady paycheck.
    Oh, I know there's been a lot of talk about, you know, revenues here 
and spending here and all that. Let me just tell you something about the 
tax relief plan that you helped us pass. Thank goodness we passed it. It 
came at the right time. If you want to fight off a recession, if you're 
interested in job creation, one of the best ways to do so is to let 
people keep their own money so they can spend it and therefore create 
more jobs.
    We did exactly the right thing in Washington, DC. We made the exact 
right decision. I know there are some who have got a different theory 
about economics; that is, if you take more money out of people's pockets 
and increase the size of Government, the economy recovers. That's not 
what we think. That's not--and most economists will tell you if you 
encourage a tax rise in times of recession, it will make matters worse. 
That's economics 101. Evidently, some of them up there forgot to pick up 
the textbook. [Laughter] This tax cut says we trust people with their 
own money, and it also reminds people that we're dealing not with the 
Government's money but with the people's money.
    We need to stimulate more economic growth by encouraging investment 
in plant and equipment, which means jobs, and by stimulating consumer 
spending by accelerating the tax relief plan, which means jobs. Jobs is 
the central core of any stimulus package.
    And let me remind you something else about jobs. In order to make 
sure people can find work and the job base of America expands, folks, we 
need an energy policy. We need a policy that has reliable energy for 
America. Imagine an employer wondering whether or not they're going to 
run out of energy. That person is not likely to hire somebody. Or if we 
get tight on energy, the price of energy goes up--it means somebody is 
not going to be able to find work. We need an energy policy. We need to 
encourage conservation. We need to build infrastructure,

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and we need to encourage exploration amongst--in the United States. A 
good energy policy is job security. But a good energy policy that 
reduces dependency upon foreign oil is a matter of national security, as 
well.
    Like I said last night, I have been in awe of the American people.
    Audience member. We love you! [Laughter]
    The President. I'm at a loss for words. I'm speechless. [Laughter] 
May be hard to believe, after 49 minutes of talking last night. 
[Laughter] But I do want to tell you that this is a fabulous land, as 
you know. And we've got a great opportunity. The enemy hit us. As I like 
to kind of tease the enemy, they must have been watching too much 
daytime TV. They thought we were soft. They thought we were 
materialistic. They thought we wouldn't fight for what we believed. They 
thought we would cower in the face of terror. And my, my, are they 
wrong. Quite the contrary has happened. This great Nation is unified and 
steadfast, and this Nation understands that if you want to fight evil, 
you do so with acts of goodness.
    I'm asked all the time, ``What can I do to help?'' People say, 
``Well, gosh, I want to be a part of the war against terror.'' And my 
answer is: Love somebody; be a good mother or dad. I answered the call 
last night for--many of you, I know, are spending a lot of time in your 
communities and helping people in need, worrying about kids in school, 
helping the schools, teaching in the schools, perhaps. But I'm calling 
on America--and I did last night, and I will continue to do so--to serve 
2 years, or 4,000 hours, for the rest of your life, in service to your 
community.
    And if you don't have a place, we've started what's called the USA 
Freedom Corps. It's a chance for retired police officers or firemen to 
help out the local law enforcement authorities to be on alert. I'll give 
you an interesting idea that took place in Maine. They've got--Maine 
lobstermen are now patrolling the coast on a volunteer basis to make 
sure that somebody in a--somebody carrying something they don't want to 
carry in a boat shows up on the coast.
    I mean, there's all kinds of ways to serve the community. We're 
looking for people to be mentors. We're looking for teachers to teach in 
neighborhoods that may need teachers. Tomorrow--I'm here because I want 
to go by a Senior Corps program where senior citizens are signed up to 
help lend their talents and their valuable experience in the 
communities. There's all kinds of ways, all kinds of ways, that 
Americans can serve their communities and their neighborhoods. And by 
doing so, we stand square in the face of evil. We tell the enemy, ``You 
can't get us. You think so--you think you can tear down the spirit of 
America, but quite the contrary. We are stronger than we have ever been 
as a nation.''
     Nobody wishes this evil had ever happened, but as a result of evil, 
there's some amazing things that are taking place in America. People 
have really begun to challenge the culture of the past that said, ``If 
it feels good, do it,'' to welcome a new culture that says, ``I'm 
responsible for the decisions I make in life.''
    This Nation has a chance--this Nation, this great Nation has a 
chance to help change the culture. We have a chance to stand up for 
being a mom or dad by just loving your kids more. We have a chance to 
fight evil by walking across the street to a shut-in, saying, ``Somebody 
cares.'' We have a chance to say to the thousands of children whose moms 
or dads and parents, to match them with a mentor--in prison--and match 
them with a mentor, so these youngsters know there's hope in our 
society, that they know there's love.
    We have a chance to change our culture for the better. We have a 
chance to turn this evil--to turn the evil deeds and the evil acts into 
incredible, long-term good for our Nation. I ask you to seize the 
moment. I ask you to understand that we've got to be patient; we've got 
to be steadfast in our drive overseas; and we've got to be loving and 
decent and compassionate at home. And when we do--and when we do, we 
will have proved to the world once again that every time, good overcomes 
evil.
    It is such an honor to be here, back in Daytona Beach. And it's such 
an honor to be the President of the greatest Nation on the face of the 
Earth. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

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Note: The President spoke at 6:35 p.m. in the Daytona Beach Jet Center 
Corporate Hangar at Daytona Beach International Airport. In his remarks, 
he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; William C. France, chairman and 
chief executive officer, International Speedway Corp. and NASCAR, and 
his wife, Betty Jane; Teresa Earnhardt, widow of NASCAR champion Dale 
Earnhardt; and Speaker Tom Feeney, Florida House of Representatives.