[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 5 (Monday, February 4, 2002)]
[Pages 154-157]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Community in Atlanta, Georgia

January 31, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Saxby, thanks so very much for your kind 
words in your introduction. This country is fortunate to have such a 
good man be the chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland 
Defense. It's important that we have good leadership in roles that 
relate to making sure our land is secure, and the State of Georgia sent 
a good one up there in Saxby Chambliss.
    I'm honored to be in the company of other members of the Georgia 
delegation. As you know, I'm a proud member of the Republican Party. I'm 
traveling today with proud members of the Democrat Party, but we're all 
proud Americans, first and foremost.
    I'd like you all to welcome Cynthia McKinney and Congressman John 
Lewis from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you all. I appreciate your being 
here. I got a little Georgia briefing on the way in from the airport 
from a man who understands this State pretty darn well, a marine--I was 
about to make a huge mistake and say former marine--[laughter]--and your 
former Governor, Senator Zell Miller.
    I want to thank other locally elected officials for being here, and 
I particularly want to thank a member of my Cabinet. This man is a man 
who understands public education. He understands it well. You see, I 
picked him out of the trenches. I didn't find somebody, somebody who can 
talk theory to be the Department of Education--head of the Department of 
Education. I found somebody who has practiced. And when I asked him to 
join my team, he was the superintendent of the Houston Independent 
School District, a school district that was committed to make sure there 
was excellence for every child, and no child--I mean no child--would be 
left behind. Please welcome the Secretary of Education, Rod Paige.
    We are on our way, after this chance for me to tell you about how I 
think things are going, to Booker T. Washington High School to talk 
about the need for folks to teach. I'm going to spend a little time at 
the end of this talk, talking about that. But Rod is here

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to highlight our passion and focus on education.
    I also am here to tell you that, even though we're at war and even 
though we're in recession, this Nation has never been stronger.
    You know, I like to tell people that the enemy must have been 
watching too much daytime TV. [Laughter] They thought we were soft. They 
thought we would weaken. They thought we were so materialistic that we'd 
be unable to put something greater than ourselves as a priority. But my 
oh my, did they make a huge mistake.
    This Nation is united. It is patient. It is determined to do the 
right thing, and that right thing is to rout out terror wherever it 
hides and wherever it exists, so the world can be free for our children 
and our grandchildren.
    I knew that when I called our military into action, our military 
would perform brilliantly. They have not let us down. And for those of 
you who have got a relative in the military, thank you from the bottom 
of our heart, and please thank them on behalf of the Commander in Chief.
    We sent them on a mission, and the mission was to hold those 
accountable who attacked us, but it wasn't just those who attacked. 
There's a new doctrine. It says that if you harbor a terrorist, if you 
feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the 
terrorist. And the Taliban found out that we say what we do in America. 
We held them accountable, and by holding that barbaric government 
accountable, this great Nation liberated a people. We liberated women 
and children from the clutches of a government that did not believe in 
respect for women and rights for children.
    I can't tell you how proud I am of our commitment to values. And as 
I said in my speech, that commitment to values is going to be an 
integral part of our foreign policy as we move forward. These aren't 
American values; these are universal values, values that speak universal 
truths.
    But we've only accomplished part of our mission in the first theater 
on the war against terror. We're still going to get Al Qaida. Now, these 
are--remember, this is a difficult stage of the war, because these are 
the fellows that like to commit somebody else's sons to suicide missions 
while they, themselves, burrow into caves. But there is no cave deep 
enough for the reach of the American military and American justice.
    They can run, and they can hide, but they can't run and hide 
forever. This patient Nation will stay the course until we bring the 
killers to justice. We seek not revenge; we seek justice. But we seek 
something else. We understand this is a struggle for freedom, itself. We 
understand that we face an enemy that knows no value, does not share the 
same values we do. For the sake of the civilized world, for the sake of 
stability for the world, for the sake of a peaceful world, we must not 
only find them in Afghanistan; we must find them wherever they hide, in 
any country that harbors terrorism around the world.
    And we will--and we will. In my speech to Congress, I said that not 
only would we find, rout out terror and terrorist training camps--and by 
the way, the evidence we found indicates that there's been thousands of 
people trained in these camps. So they're moving around. We can't rest; 
we can't weary. We've also sent another message, that if you're one of 
these nations that develops weapons of mass destruction, and you're 
likely to team up with a terrorist group, or you're now sponsoring 
terror, or you don't hold the values we hold dear true to your heart, 
then you too are on our watch list.
    People say, ``What does that mean?'' It means they better get their 
house in order, is what it means. It means they better respect the rule 
of law. It means they better not try to terrorize America and our 
friends and allies, or the justice of this Nation will be served on 
them, as well.
    My hope, of course, is that nations make the right choice. And I 
believe some nations are doing just that by being steadfast with our 
coalition and our friends and allies, that nations choose a peaceful 
course, that they reject terror. And as I say, many nations are 
realizing when we say, ``You're either with us or against us,'' we mean 
it. There's no middle ground when it comes to freedom and terror.
    And so, my hope is, is that those nations we put on notice and other 
nations around the world will make the right choice. But they should not 
make any mistake about it:

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We will defend our national security. The security of the United States 
of America is my most important job. And I take it seriously, and I will 
follow through.
    And that's why the budget I sent to Congress says this: To those who 
wear our uniform, you deserve the best training, the best equipment, and 
you deserve a pay raise. The number one priority of my budget is the 
defense of the United States of America, and the good news is, is that 
our Congress is unified. There is no difference between the Republicans 
and Democrats when it comes to freedom and security, and for that, I'm 
grateful. And I'm confident that my budget--the military aspect of my 
budget will not only get a fair hearing but will be passed by members of 
both political parties.
    Secondly, we've got to protect our homeland. I wake up every 
morning, get into the Oval Office--by the way, it is still an awesome 
experience to walk in the Oval Office--[laughter]--every morning. What 
an honor it is to walk in there. And even Spot, the dog, is impressed. 
[Laughter] Barney's not invited in. The carpet's too new. [Laughter] 
Don't tell Barney. I hope he's not watching C-SPAN. [Laughter]
    But I sit at that grand desk in the Oval Office and read a threat 
assessment, read about the intentions of the enemy. And it reminds me 
that this Nation's got to be alert. Now, what does that mean? Well, it 
means if you see something unusual, tell the local police. They're on 
alert. It means that we've got to make sure Federal law enforcement 
officials know that their most important priority is to prevent another 
attack.
    I'm proud to report that Director Mueller and the FBI have changed 
the culture. We're still going to be after spies and white-collar crime, 
but their most important function is to make sure that we get as much 
intelligence as possible and act on it to prevent the enemy from hitting 
us again.
    And so, my fellow citizens, I know the farther we get away from 9/
11, we hope that the world becomes more secure. But you just need to 
know that I take nothing for granted. Time and distance from when the 
evil ones hit does not diminish my intensity for doing everything we can 
to protect our people. And that's why I asked Tom Ridge to put together 
a homeland defense strategy. That's why I'm asking Congress to pass a 
significant budget increase, to focus on bioterrorism, to provide money 
and support for local law enforcement and fire folks, to make sure 
there's emergency plans in place, to make sure that our INS knows 
exactly who is coming into our country and who is leaving our country, 
to make sure that homeland--to make sure our homeland is as secure as 
possible.
    But I want to remind you all and remind those who wonder about our 
activities overseas, the best way to secure the homeland of our country 
is to find the terrorists where they hide, and get them.
    No, the enemy made a mistake, and they don't understand our country. 
And they could not have predicted what would have happened in America. 
While we hate what happened on September the 11th, I welcome--I 
welcome--the changes that are taking place in our country. I stand in 
awe of the American people. I do. I'm the President of a land of people 
who are so compassionate and so decent and so kind that evil people 
can't possibly, possibly put that into their calculation. This is a land 
where neighbors are helping neighbors.
    I view this as a unique moment not only to fight for freedom, a 
unique moment to fight for peace, but a unique moment to help change our 
culture from one that says, ``If it feels good, do it,'' to a new 
culture which says, ``Each of us are responsible for the decisions we 
make in life.''
    Part of a responsibility culture starts at home. And it says, if you 
are a mom or a dad, the most important job you will ever have is to love 
your children. That's the most important job, but a responsibility 
culture also says that we're responsible for the citizens--our 
neighbors. We're responsible for loving a neighbor like we'd like to be 
loved ourselves.
    And by the way, there's corporate responsibility, part of the 
responsibility here, which says that let's make sure when you account 
for losses and profits, that you put it all on your books so everybody 
understands.
    I have asked America to fight evil with acts of kindness. You see, I 
believe that the best way--people say, ``Well, what can I do to help?'' 
Well, there's ways you can help by

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being alert. But I'm asking people to fight evil with good. As you can 
probably tell from my speeches, I don't see any shades of gray in the 
war against terror. It's either evil--[applause]. I also believe that we 
as a nation can overwhelm the evil ones by rising up and support a new 
culture of responsibility by volunteering.
    And so I've asked the Nation, each of us, to volunteer 4,000 hours, 
minimum, over the rest of our lifetime, or 2 years in service to your 
country. And I know many in Atlanta do that, and I thank you for that. 
You come out of your churches or synagogues or mosques, and you've got a 
program based upon faith, and you're working hard to change people's 
lives. You're already doing it. Just keep doing it. It's good for 
America, and it's good in the fight against evil.
    But some don't know where to help, and so we've started what's 
called the USA Freedom Corps. And it's a chance for people to 
participate in homeland security or participate in spreading American 
values and kindness and generosity around the world through the Peace 
Corps or to participate at home in inner-city neighborhoods. Join Teach 
For America, for example, which is a fantastic program that I'm going to 
go herald at Booker T. Washington High School. There's a way to join 
Senior Corps, and there's all kinds of ways to help our country. And if 
you're interested, call 877--[laughter]--USA-CORPS, or 
usafreedomcorps.gov.
    My fellow Americans, if you want to join the fight against 
terrorists, join up. Volunteer to make your community a better place. 
Spread love and compassion throughout our country. The way I like to 
define it is, we will overcome evil through the gathering momentum of 
millions of acts of kindness and decency.
    And after all, it's going to happen, because you know why? This is 
such a decent and compassionate country. We're a country based on 
fabulous values. We're a country open to everybody. We're a country 
based upon the principle that says, ``Freedom is important. Freedom is 
essential. Freedom is nonnegotiable.''
    No question in my mind these are tough times for America, but 
there's no question in my mind: We'll prevail. Right is on our side. And 
we'll prevail because we're a fabulous nation, and we're a fabulous 
nation because we're a nation full of fabulous people.
    It's my honor to be your President. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:41 p.m. in the Marquis Ballroom at the 
Atlanta Marriott Marquis.