    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 9 (Monday, March 4, 2002)]
    [Pages 316-318]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following a Roundtable Discussion on Retirement Savings and an
    Exchange With Reporters in Des Moines, Iowa

    March 1, 2002

        The President. I want to thank Bill and the employees here at
    Printers for sharing with me their thoughts on the advantages and the
    importance of 401(k) plans. The 401(k) plan allows a person to invest
    his or her own money in a savings account which will enhance their asset
    base in their retirement years.
        We talked about how important it is to have an ownership society,
    where people own assets. We talked about the importance of 401(k) plans
    for small businesses in America. And Bill very wisely has set up a
    really constructive and interesting plan, one of which the owners--the
    whole concept is that this is the workers' money, that this is Diana's
    money or Judy's money, and they ought to be trusted in the management of
    that money.
        And that's what this plan does here, it gives instant access to the
    Web site. They can make investment decisions, obviously, within the
    guidelines of the law. Now, there are some reforms that are necessary
    for privately held businesses, such as allowing for more investment
    advice to the workers, without fear of being sued.
        But they've got a very constructive plan here. I want to thank Bill
    and thank you all for sharing with me the vibrancy of your 401(k) plan.
    A little later on I'm going to talk again about some of the reforms
    we're proposing in Congress, as well as some of the expansions to the
    401(k) that we enacted into law during the last--during the tax debate.
        I'll be glad to answer a couple of questions. Steve [Steve Holland,
    Reuters].

    Action Against Terrorism

        Q. Mr. President, what did you make of Senator Daschle's comments
    yesterday with the war--Mullah Omar and Usama bin Laden are still out
    there?
        The President. Well, I think most Americans understand that it's
    going to--it's going to take a while to achieve all our objectives, that
    by far the vast majority of Americans are patient. They know, when
    you're looking for one person who may be hiding in a cave, it may take a
    while. But what Usama bin Laden has got to understand, if we haven't
    already gotten him--I don't know where he is. But I think he now
    understands that this patient and determined Nation is going to hunt him
    down, that he can't hide long enough.
        And the other point I'd like to make is, as I've said repeatedly--
    and most Americans understand this, as well--that our war against terror
    is far greater than one person, that in order to defend freedom and
    protect our children and our children's children, that we must rout out
    terror wherever it tries to hide.
        And that's why we are working with our coalition on an active basis
    to deny safe harbor, to disrupt financial plans. And the American people
    are beginning to see that we have

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    been active beyond Afghanistan. We've obviously got activities
    interested--Philippines, activities in Georgia. And we're hunting him
    down. And I'm real proud of our military. We've been at this for about 6
    months, and we've been very successful in a quick period of time.

    Continuity of Government/Yemen

        Q. Mr. President, is there a shadow Government in place since
    September 11th? And----
        The President. A shadowy Government or a shadow Government?
    [Laughter]
        Q. A shadow Government. And as part of the antiterror effort, are
    you considering granting some form of aid to Yemen?
        The President. Let's see, there are two questions there. The first
    one is, we have--we take the continuity-of-Government issue very
    seriously, because our Nation was under attack. And I still take the
    threats that we receive from Al Qaida killers and terrorists very
    seriously.
        I have an obligation as the President, and my President has an
    obligation to the American people to provide--to put measures in place
    that, should somebody be successful in attacking Washington, DC, there's
    an ongoing Government. That's one reason why the Vice President was
    going to undisclosed locations. This is serious business, and we take it
    seriously.
        As far as Yemen goes, Yemen is a country that--I've had a very good
    discussion with the President of Yemen. I made it clear to him, as well
    as other Presidents of nations, that you're either with us, or you're
    not with us, and that if you're with us, we expect results.
        I don't know if you remember my speech to the United Nations, where
    I said, thanks for all the condolences and flowers; now is the time for
    action, that if you're a part of our coalition, we expect you to work
    diligently and work hard to arrest Al Qaida killers. Al Qaida members
    are people who aid and abet Al Qaida. And the Yemen Government is
    responding.
        I've oftentimes asked, what about--you know, what are the
    particulars you're doing, in a particular government? I'm not going to
    talk about ongoing operations. I will just tell you that wherever we
    find an Al Qaida presence, we work with the government to rout them out.
    In other words, this war against terror is far broader than Afghanistan,
    and we're making good progress.

    Energy Taskforce Documents

        Q. Sir, some of the legal actions seeking documents from the energy
    task force have been successful. It looks like some of the documents are
    going to be released. Are you concerned----
        The President. That's fine with me.
        Q. Are you concerned about some of the information that's out there?
        The President. No.
        Q. Will it raise doubts about your energy plan?
        The President. Not at all, no. I'm not concerned at all. As a matter
    of fact, I hope the Energy Department gets the documents out there as
    quickly as they possibly can.
        I am concerned, though, about a Congress trying to make privileged
    the private conversations the President or the Vice President has. In
    other words, I receive advice, and in order for people to give me sound
    advice, that information ought not to be public. Somebody is not going
    to walk into the Oval Office thinking that the conversation is going to
    be public and give me good, sound advice.
        And therefore, when the GAO overstepped its bounds to try to get
    advice given to the Vice President and me, we resisted. But in terms of
    the honoring the FOIA request, the freedom of information request to our
    Departments, in which different groups are legally entitled to do, you
    bet.
        And we received interesting advice from a lot of people on our
    energy plan. First of all, we're the first administration to put forth
    an energy plan. And this Nation needs an energy plan. The more dependent
    we are on foreign sources of crude oil, the less secure our Nation will
    be. And it's about time somebody stepped forth with an energy plan.
        And we listened to energy companies, which seems to make sense. If
    you're developing an energy plan, one place to start is to listen to
    people who know something about the business. We also listened to
    environmental groups. We listened to people that

    [[Page 318]]

    were concerned about how to create more conservation.
        And the end result was a plan that is now public, and every American
    has got the capacity to pick it up and read it and decide whether they
    think it makes sense or not. The House of Representatives evidently
    thought so, because they passed the bill. And for the good of the
    country, the Senate needs to pass an energy bill that encourages
    conservation, exploration, and modernizes the capacity and the abilities
    of the country to move electricity from one part of the country to the
    next.
        Last question.

    Continuity of Government

        Q. Sir, back to the issue of the shadow Government. The reports out
    today said that one reason why the shadow Government was authorized was
    that there was a threat of nuclear attack by Al Qaida. Is that something
    that is still a significant threat?
        The President. We take every threat seriously. And until this
    country has routed out terrorists wherever they try to hide, we're not
    safe.
        Now, we're doing everything we can to protect the American people,
    and the American people understand that. They know that our Federal law
    enforcement, State law enforcement, local law enforcement are working
    day and night to protect the American people. I'm proud of the efforts.
    I believe--I know we've made America a tougher place to attack than
    before. It is much harder for somebody to get on an airplane to attack
    again. We are taking--you know, we've got better intelligence-gathering.
    We're doing everything in our power to protect the American people.
        And I will tell you, there are people still in this world who want
    to harm America. And we're going to chase them down. And it's going to
    take a while. But I am a determined person, and as I told the American
    people, I'm not going to relent. I believe we've been called by history
    to lead the world. I believe this great, strong, compassionate country
    has been given a unique moment. And I'm not going to miss the moment, by
    leading the world to a more freedom-loving world. And the American
    people understand that, and they're solid behind this administration's
    efforts to defend freedom.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. in the production control room
    at The Printer, Inc. In his remarks, he referred to William C. Benskin,
    president, and Diane Grimes and Judy Ford, employees, The Printer, Inc.;
    and President Ali Abdallah Salih of Yemen. A reporter referred to Mullah
    Omar, former head of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. A tape was not
    available for verification of the content of these remarks.