[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 29 (Monday, July 22, 2002)]
[Pages 1223-1226]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Polish American Community in Rochester, Michigan

July 18, 2002

    The President. Thank you very much.
    So I was telling the President of Poland, I said, ``There's a lot of 
smart people in Washington, but not all the brains are in Washington. 
Why don't we get on the airplane and come out and see some other smart 
Americans?'' It's an honor to be here. I want to thank you for coming. I 
appreciate the warm hospitality that you've shown me and my friend.
    We had a heck of a dinner last night. It was a black-tie dinner, and 
I had the honor of sitting next to the First Lady of Poland. And it 
dawned on me after the dinner that he and I share a lot, starting with 
the fact that we both married really well. [Laughter] The First Lady of 
Poland sends her best, and

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so does the First Lady of America, my great wife, Laura Bush.
    I appreciate John and Michelle Engler. John mentioned that she is of 
Polish heritage. He forgot to say she's got some Texas blood in her, 
too. But I'm proud to call John and Michelle friends. I'm happy that 
Aleksander got to meet my friends here who have been doing such a fine 
job of running this State.
    I want to thank Gary Russi, the host, the president of Oakland 
University. I know it's not easy to host an entourage, choppers and all 
the things that fly in here. But I want to thank you for providing this 
fantastic forum, a chance for us to talk about our mutual visions for a 
peaceful world. So I want to thank all those who helped here at Oakland 
to make this a successful trip.
    I want to thank the Lalewiczs. That would be the lady--the fantastic 
young lady who sang ``The Star-Spangled Banner'' and her brother, Peter. 
I told the President he's going to see a budding star singing our 
national anthems, and she didn't let us down. I want to thank you, 
Olivia, very much for being here.
    I appreciate some of the good folks who work here in Michigan--the 
Lieutenant Governor, Dick Posthumus, is here. Candice Miller is supposed 
to be here somewhere. I appreciate Candice--is the Michigan secretary of 
state.
    I want to thank the Polish delegation. We've got a lot of the 
leadership who are involved in the President's Government. They've 
traveled with us from Washington today. I want to thank you all for 
coming. I'm honored you're here.
    Our Ambassador from Poland is here, Chris Hill. Thank you, Mr. 
Ambassador. You're doing a fine job. I appreciate you coming.
    I mean, when the President of Poland shows up, all the officials 
show up. We've got not only Federal officials and State officials, we've 
got L. Brooks Patterson, the Oakland County executive. We've got the 
mayor of Detroit. Mayor Kilpatrick, thank you for coming. I want to 
thank the mayor of Rochester for being here as well. Mr. Mayor, thank 
you for coming. I'm honored you're here, and the mayor of Rochester 
Hills is here as well.
    And I want to thank you all for coming. It's an honor that you're 
here. We're thrilled you're here. It gives us a chance to talk about our 
vision for a peaceful world. There's a lot of war talk these days, as 
there should be, but it's all aimed at making sure the world is 
peaceful, peaceful not only for children here in America but peaceful 
for children in Poland as well. And it's kind of you all to give us a 
chance to come and to visit.
    When we landed our chopper out there on the playing fields--or some 
kind of field--[laughter]--I know it was a field--[laughter]--we were 
met by two really fine Americans, Helen Suchara and Erin Chekal. Now 
they're here, and I want them to stand up here in a minute. But I want 
to describe to you their hearts. First, you'll see that Helen has lived 
a full life. But in the early nineties, she decided to go to Poland as a 
Peace Corps volunteer. She decided to take American values to her--the 
homeland of her ancestry, to talk about democracy and freedom, those 
very same values which the country embraces today. And Erin Chekal 
wanted to do the same thing. And so we've got two generations of 
Americans with us today who have volunteered their time to make not only 
America a better place but to help the country they love, Poland, become 
a better place. And I want you to welcome them. Thank you all for 
coming. [Applause]
    Mr. President, the strength of our Nation is not our balance sheet; 
it's not our military. The strength of our Nation is the American 
people. The American people are generous people. They're kind people. 
They're courageous people. The true strength of America lies in the 
hearts and souls of Americans from all walks of life.
    It has been such an honor to welcome the President here to America. 
Laura and I went to Warsaw, by the way, as his guest and had a fantastic 
experience. We were--the people were great, and it was a wonderful time 
for us to begin a friendship that's an important friendship today.
    And the friendship, though, between Poland and America goes back a 
long way. As Governor Engler mentioned, Poles fought for American 
independence, and in the century past, we had the privilege and honor of

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helping Poland fight for her independence. We had the honor of repaying 
the favor, because we love freedom, and so do the Polish people. America 
is proud to call Poland a friend, a partner, and an ally.
    The people of Poland and the people of America share strong bonds of 
kinship and culture and commerce. The sons and daughters of Poland, many 
of whom I'm pleased we have here today, Mr. President, have been 
enriching America throughout our entire history. [Applause] There's one 
or two sons here. Listen, they've contributed to every walk of life, Jan 
Karski, Ed Muskie, Bronko Nagurski. We had dinner last night with one, a 
great Polish American, Stan Musial. All throughout our society, Polish 
Americans have made a tremendous contribution, Mr. President, and we're 
proud of that contribution. As a matter of fact, it's the contributions 
from people from all walks of life which make America not only a unique 
nation but a strong nation.
    Poland has given a lot to America, and Poland has given a lot to the 
world. For 50 years, the people of Poland waged an heroic struggle for 
freedom. For 50 years, they set an example of what it means to love 
freedom. It was Polish courage and conscience that caused an evil empire 
to fear freedom and eventually bring down the evil empire.
    And Poland has given the world one of the greatest figures of the 
last century. The moral authority and iron integrity of a Polish Pope 
have stirred the forces of freedom throughout the world. Everyone who 
believes in human rights and human life and human dignity owes a great 
debt to Pope John Paul II. And I want to thank one of his most 
distinguished representatives here in America, His Eminence Cardinal 
Maida, for being with us today as well.
    Poland is an example to all of Europe. After all, it's a strong 
democracy with a market economy. It's a force for stability within 
Europe, and it's a nation prepared to play an influential role on the 
world stage.
    Five years ago, the United States proudly supported Poland's bid to 
join NATO. This year, Poland and the United States will meet in Prague 
and support NATO membership for all of Europe's democracies ready to 
share in NATO's responsibilities.
    In this age, in this era, America needs allies who share the same 
views about the world's opportunities. We need allies who understand the 
world's dangers. When America was attacked, NATO and Poland, led by this 
good man, immediately declared that an attack on one of us was an attack 
on all of us. You need to know that Poland is standing strong--I mean, 
strong--alongside America in the war on global terror.
    Poland has--Poland----
    Audience members. Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop the war!
    The President. Poland has deployed troops to Afghanistan, has shared 
intelligence, and cracked down on terrorist financing. You need to know 
that the United States of America will track the terrorists down, one by 
one, and bring them to justice. [Applause] Thank you all.
    Mr. President, the people of America are deeply grateful for your 
support and the support of the people of Poland. See, a lot of people in 
our country, and perhaps yours, wonder why would, why would an enemy--by 
the way, nothing bunch of--nothing but a bunch of coldblooded killers--
strike America. And Mr. President, it's because they fear freedom. See, 
we believe in freedom of speech. We believe in freedom of the press. 
Like you, we love freedom, and if somebody attacks our freedoms, we'll 
stand tough and strong.
    No, we're bound together in this war on terror. This President 
understands what I know, that we've entered a new type of war. We're 
hunting down people that will hide in a cave but send youngsters to 
their death--that's what they'll do. These are international criminals, 
and we're going to treat them like international criminals. We're going 
to get them on the run, and we're going to keep them on the run until we 
bring them to justice.
    We owe it to history; we owe it to our children and our 
grandchildren. Anytime anybody wants to affect the freedom of our 
people, they must pay a price, not because we seek revenge but because 
we seek justice.
    I was explaining to the President yesterday that I've submitted a 
mighty hefty increase in our defense spending. I did so because anytime 
an American President commits one

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of our troops into battle or into harm's way, that person deserves the 
best training, the best pay, the best equipment possible. And Mr. 
President, this significant increase, the largest since Ronald Reagan 
was the President, shows the world, shows our friends, and as 
importantly, shows the enemy that the United States is a determined, 
resolved nation. It doesn't matter how long it takes. There are no 
calendars on our desks in Washington that say, by such and such a moment 
we've got to quit. That's not how we think, Mr. President, and you know 
that. The increase in the defense budget says that we're in this for the 
long haul, that we owe it to a lot of people to be patient and resolved.
    Mr. President, I'm telling you that this country is united. We 
understand this isn't a Republican war, a Democratic war. This is a war 
that will test the soul and conscience and strength of the American 
people. And Mr. President, America will meet the test.
    We are united. We're a united country, and we're united with Poland. 
We will not permit the future to be defined by fear and chaos and 
hatred. We will define a future of greater development of democracy and 
a future of tolerance. We'll stand together, and, make no mistake about 
it, we will defeat global terror.
    When I spoke to the faculty and students at Warsaw University last 
year, I said the question no longer is what others can do for Poland, 
but what America, Poland, and all of Europe can do for the rest of the 
world. Working together, we will build greater prosperity and greater 
hope to people of our respective nations and people all across the 
globe.
    Poland has a leader it can trust. He's a good man. He's a man I'm 
proud to call friend. I'm proud to bring him to the great State of 
Michigan. I'm proud to introduce him to you. Ladies and gentlemen, 
President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland.

Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the Athletics Center at 
Oakland University. In his remarks, he referred to President Aleksander 
Kwasniewski of Poland, and his wife, Jolanta Kwasniewska; Gov. John 
Engler of Michigan, and his wife, Michelle; Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of 
Detroit, Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr., of Rochester; Mayor Pat 
Somerville of Rochester Hills; baseball Hall of Fame member Stanley F. 
Musial; and Adam Cardinal Maida, Archbishop of Detroit. The transcript 
released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks 
of President Kwasniewski.