[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 11 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Pages 426-429]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in Fayetteville, North Carolina

March 15, 2002

    The President. Thank you all.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. Thank you all very much. At ease! [Laughter] General 
McNeill, thank you very much. For a warrior, you're pretty darn 
articulate. Thank you all for such a warm welcome. It's great to be here 
in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
    I'm also honored to be here with fine men and women who wear our 
uniform from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the world's finest fighting 
soldiers. For generations, Fort Bragg has stood for the best in the 
United States military. And now, along with those stationed at Pope Air 
Force Base, you're playing a crucial role, a vital role, a successful 
role in our defense of freedom, in our war against terror. I'm proud of 
your service. I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
    I want to thank General Holland, Commander in Chief, Headquarters 
U.S. Special Operations Command. I want to thank General Brown. I want 
to thank all the fine men and women of the 18th Airborne Corps, the 
Special Forces, and the Special Operation units. It is good to be with 
the fine folks of the 43d Airlift Wing.
    I am honored to be traveling with members of the North Carolina 
congressional delegation, two of whom you've just heard from, 
Congressman McIntyre, Congressman Hayes. Congressman Etheridge is with 
us today, as is my friend Elizabeth Dole. Thank you all for coming.
    One week ago this coliseum was the scene of graduation ceremonies 
for the latest group of soldiers to have earned the right to wear the 
Green Beret. In doing so, they will join the ranks of some of the best 
and bravest citizens we have. The soldiers and sailors and airmen of the 
U.S. Special Operations Command are the best in the world, and the world 
is seeing how tough and how brave they are today.
    Our Special Operations forces know the danger that awaits them. This 
is a dangerous battle that we face, a dangerous war. And I'm proud of 
the courage not only of the soldiers who volunteer for battle but for 
the loved ones who remain behind. Not only am I proud of our soldiers, I 
am proud of the wives and husbands and sons and daughters and moms and 
dads. And on behalf of a grateful nation, we thank you as well. We 
appreciate your courage and your sacrifice.
    Two young men from the Special Forces were recently laid to rest, 
Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Harriman and Air Force Tech Sergeant John 
Chapman. I want their families to know that we pray with them, that we 
honor them, and they died in a just cause, for defending freedom, and 
they will not have died in vain. Because of such soldiers, a vicious 
regime has been toppled in Afghanistan, and an entire people have been 
liberated from oppression. Because of American soldiers and our brave 
allies and friends who have fought beside them, the Taliban is out of 
business.
    At the beginning of this war, I made it very clear--as clear as a 
fellow from Texas could make it--either you're with us, or you're 
against us. And if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if 
you try to hide a terrorist, you are just as guilty as the murderers who 
killed innocent Americans on September the 11th. And thanks to the 
mighty United States military, the Taliban found out exactly what I 
meant.
    But the world has seen we are not conquerors; we're liberators. We 
fight for freedom, and at the same time, we have saved a people from 
mass starvation. We fight for freedom, but at the same time, we're 
clearing away minefields, rebuilding roads, and opening up hospitals. We 
fight for freedom, and yet, next week schools will reopen in 
Afghanistan, and for the first time, many young girls

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will go to school for the first times in their lives.
    We haven't been at this struggle very long. I know it seems like a 
long time for those of you whose loved ones are overseas. But we've been 
at it for 6 months, and we've made a lot of progress. And you know what? 
The terrorists have now figured out they picked on the wrong people. 
They must have thought we were soft. They must have thought we were so 
materialistic that we wouldn't fight for values that we loved. They must 
have thought that we were so self-absorbed that the word, ``sacrifice'' 
had left the American vocabulary. And my, were they wrong.
    Thousands of terrorists have been brought to justice. But I want you 
to know, my fellow citizens, we will not relent. We will not slow down 
until the threat of global terrorism has been destroyed. I have made 
this message clear to the American people. I have made this message 
clear to our vast coalition, and I've made this message clear to our 
enemies, and our military has delivered the message.
    We have finished the first phase of our war against terror. You see, 
when we routed out the Taliban, we completed that phase, and now we're 
entering a second stage of what I think will be a long war. It's a 
sustained campaign, a tireless, relentless campaign, to deny sanctuary, 
to deny safe haven to terrorists who would threaten citizens anywhere in 
the world, threaten our way of life, threaten our friends, threaten our 
allies. These terrorists are now on the run, and we intend to keep them 
on the run.
    Oh, we know their strategy. They want to try to regroup, and they 
want to hit us. We're doing everything we can to stop them. No, we know 
their strategy. We also know they're the most committed, the most 
dangerous, the least likely to surrender. Folks, these are trained 
killers who hate freedom, and so long as they're on the loose, we're in 
danger. And therefore, in order to keep them from harming any of our 
citizens again, we're going to hunt them down, one by one. This mighty 
nation will not blink; we will not yield. We will defend the innocent 
lives of the American people by bringing terrorist killers to justice.
    Obviously, as you well know, we found some of them bunched up in the 
Shahi-Kot Mountains. And we sent our military in, and they're not 
bunched up anymore. [Laughter] And when we find them bunched up again, 
we'll send our military in, and the same thing will happen. You know, 
they've got these leaders that are so bold that they're willing to send 
youngsters to their suicide while they try to hide in deep caves. But 
they're going to find out there is not a cave deep enough to escape the 
long arm of American justice.
    And so as fellow citizens, you need to know the strategy of this new 
phase is this: We want every terrorist to be made to live like an 
international fugitive, on the run, with no place to settle, no place to 
organize, no place to hide, no governments to hide behind, not even a 
safe place to sleep. And we're going to stay at it. You watch, we're 
going to stay at it for however long it takes. And the good news is, the 
American people are united and patient and understand the nature of the 
struggle ahead. And for that I'm grateful, and so are the men and women 
who wear the uniform of the United States military.
    At the same time, the civilized world must take seriously the 
growing threat of terror on a catastrophic scale. We've got to prevent 
the spread of weapons of mass destruction, because there is no margin 
for error and there is no chance to learn from any mistake. The United 
States and her allies will act deliberately. We'll be deliberate, but 
inaction is not an option. Men who have no respect for life must never 
be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death. I have made it 
clear that we will not let the most dangerous regimes in the world team 
up with killers and, therefore, hold this great Nation hostage. Whatever 
it takes to defend the liberty of America, this administration will do.
    I want you to know that even though we have made great progress in 6 
short months, I am aware that history will judge us not based upon the 
beginning of this campaign but how it ends. Great challenges lie ahead, 
and we're in for a long struggle. And therefore, we must make sure that 
our United States military must have everything it needs to meet the 
objective.

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    And just like our military has responsibilities, I have 
responsibilities as the Commander in Chief to the military. In every 
stage of the war on terror, I can assure you our actions will be 
carefully planned and carefully prepared. Our objectives will be clear. 
We will be deliberate, but when we act, we'll be decisive. I will give 
clear orders, and I will make sure that you have every tool you need to 
do your job.
    I've asked Congress for a one-year increase of more than $48 billion 
for national defense. This is the largest defense increase in a 
generation, because we're at war, and Congress needs to pass this 
budget. And by the way, it includes another pay raise for people who 
wear the uniform.
    Nothing is more important than the national security of our 
country--nothing is more important--so nothing is more important than 
our defense budget. I've heard some of them talking about, you know, 
``It's too big,'' up there. Let me just make this as clear as I can make 
it: The price for freedom is high, but it's never too high, as far as 
I'm concerned.
    As you know, if you follow the budget process, oftentimes Congress 
waits until the last days of the fiscal year in order to pass the 
defense budget. That's bad budgeting practices in times of peace. It's 
really bad budgeting practices in times of war. I expect the United 
States Congress to not only pass the budget as I submitted; I expect 
them to make it the first order of business, so we can plan for this 
war.
    Now is not the time to play politics with the defense budget. Now is 
the time to get it out first and get it on my desk. We need to send that 
clear message that not only are we in this for the long haul, but the 
elected Representatives of the United States people understand it as 
well. I'm proud of the bipartisan spirit that exists in our war against 
terror. Now, let's just make sure we've got some good budgeting 
practices to go along with it.
    We're working hard to make sure the homeland is secure. I'll never 
forget, right after September the 11th, I went to see some high school 
kids, and they were seniors. And it dawned on me that--obviously on 
them, too--that this is the first high school class that had ever seen 
an attack on the homeland like this, at least on the 48 States that are 
contiguous. And it reminded me then--and I've never forgotten it--that 
oceans no longer matter when it comes to making us safe, that we have a 
giant obligation, an obligation I take very seriously here at home, to 
make sure we do everything we can to protect innocent life.
    So you need to know that any time we get a hint about somebody may 
be thinking about doing something, we're on them. Every time we get a 
scintilla of evidence that somebody might be trying to get in here or 
burrow in our society, we're doing everything we can--everything we 
can--to protect the American people. We honor our Constitution, but 
we're on alert. And so are many of you all, and I want to thank you for 
that.
    We've got a good first-responders initiative. We've got a great 
initiative on bioterrorism. We're making our borders more secure. We 
want to make sure we know who's coming in and who's coming out. We want 
to make sure the INS is reformed. [Laughter] As you might--could tell by 
the news that day, I was plenty hot--[laughter]--when I read about the 
bureaucratic inefficiency of this agency. We're going to do everything 
we can to reform it. We want to button up the homeland as best as we 
possibly can.
    But my attitude is this: The best way to secure the homeland is to 
unleash the mighty United States military and hunt them down and bring 
them to justice. And the best way to fight evil at home is to love your 
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. The best way to stand 
squarely in the face of those who hijacked a good religion is to live a 
life that helps people in need.
    You know, the true strength of our country is much greater than our 
military. The true strength of America are the hearts and souls of 
loving American citizens. And we have an obligation in our free society 
to work to make our society as compassionate and as kind as it can 
possibly be.
    Today I had the honor, when I landed here, to meet Jane Davis. Where 
are you, Jane? There she is. Jane, thank you. Don't clap yet until you 
hear about her. She's the wife of Colonel Gary Matteson of Fort Bragg. 
The reason I mention Jane is because she

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is an example of what I'm talking about, about the strength of the 
country. Right after September the 11th, she left North Carolina to 
volunteer at Ground Zero in New York City. Nobody had to tell Jane. 
There wasn't a Government edict. There wasn't a telegram from 
Washington, DC, directing her to go to Ground Zero. She followed her 
heart. She knew it was the right thing to do. It's the Jane Davises that 
really defined America for the world to see.
    And you can be--you can help a neighbor in all kinds of ways. You 
can walk across a street to a shut-in and say, ``What can I do to help 
your day?'' Or you can mentor a child, or you can teach in a classroom. 
If you want to help, you can get on the Internet and dial up 
usafreedomcorps.gov and see. And we've got a member of the Senior Corps 
here, which is a part of the USA Freedom Corps. If you want to be 
involved, there's all kinds of ways--all you've got to do to act. But if 
you're interested in joining the war against terror, do something to 
make your community a more vibrant and kind place.
    It is what I like to call the gathering momentum of millions of acts 
of kindness that define America for what we are. And I'm proud to be the 
President of a nation that is dedicated and firm in our defense of 
liberty, that will stand strong when we defend freedom and not blink or 
tire. And likewise, I'm proud to be the President of a nation whose true 
strength are the hearts and souls of citizens from all walks of life.
    May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 9:54 a.m. at the Cumberland County Coliseum 
Complex. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. Dan K. McNeill, USA, 
commanding general, 18th Airborne Corps; Gen. Charles R. Holland, USAF, 
Commander in Chief, Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command; Lt. 
Gen. Bryan D. Brown, USA, commander, U.S. Army Special Operations 
Command; North Carolina senatorial candidate Elizabeth Dole; and Col. 
Gary N. Matteson, USA, commander, Womack Army Medical Center. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
these remarks.