[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 24 (Monday, June 17, 2002)]
[Pages 984-985]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the International Democratic Union Leaders Dinner

June 10, 2002

    If I may have your attention for a minute, please. It is a great 
pleasure for me to welcome the International Democratic Union's members 
and its new chairman, Prime Minister of Australia John Howard. And it's 
my pleasure to thank the outgoing chairman, William Hague, for his 
outstanding leadership.
    With us this evening are IDU members from 40 nations, including five 
current heads of state or government, and nine former

[[Page 985]]

heads of state or government. The presence of so many distinguished 
world leaders is a remarkable testament to the power and attractiveness 
of our ideas.
    More than a century ago, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
Sir William Harcourt, declared, ``We're all socialists now.'' [Laughter] 
Today, it's fair to say, we're all democratic capitalists now. The 
democratic capitalists' vision of a free and just and compassionate 
society has captured the imagination of the world. Free markets, free 
governments, and free societies are not American ideas; they're not 
European or Western ideas; they're universal ideas. And they inspire all 
the member parties of the International Democratic Union.
    The historical record is clear: Economic systems that put freedom 
first have achieved greater levels of equality and well-being than 
systems that seek to strengthen the power of the state and stifle 
economic liberty. That's the record. But while the ideas the IDU stands 
for have made unprecedented gains, the free societies we love face 
unprecedented threats.
    We face coldblooded killers that hate the freedoms we cherish, and 
with the spread of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons, along 
with ballistic missile technology, freedom's enemies could attain 
catastrophic power. And there's no doubt that they would use that power 
to attack us and to attack the values we uphold.
    It is our commitment to freedom and human dignity and the strong 
belief that each individual matters that sets our enemies against us and 
draws our friends together in a great coalition of liberty. We will 
oppose the new totalitarians with all our power. We will hunt them down 
one by one and bring them to justice.
    And we must never hate--hesitate to speak for what we believe. We 
believe we fight an enemy that is barbaric and that is evil. We believe 
targeting innocent civilians for murder is always and everywhere wrong; 
and political, social, and economic freedoms are always and everywhere 
right.
    The war on terror will be long and it will be dangerous. It will 
require us to be patient and steadfast and clear about what we're 
fighting for. We fight for the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity: 
The rule of law; limits on the power of the state; respect for women; 
respect for private property; and free speech and equal justice and 
religious tolerance.
    And so I'd like you to join me in a toast for the ideas which we all 
share, and for the great hope to replace poverty and repression and 
resentment with the promise of a better day for everyone who inhabits 
this Earth.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 7:03 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the 
White House.