[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 39 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Pages 1593-1595]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 21, 2002

    The President. Good morning. In the past week, U.S. officials in 
Pakistan took custody

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of five Al Qaida members, including a key strategist for the September 
the 11th attacks. And here in America, Federal agents arrested six men 
suspected of having trained at Al Qaida terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
    These arrests remind us that we are engaged in a new kind of war, 
fought on many fronts, including the homefront. The arrests also remind 
us that the enemy is still at large, threatening our safety and 
security. Defeating terrorism requires constant vigilance and 
preparation by our citizens and by our Government.
    One way for the Congress to protect the American people is to pass 
legislation creating a new Department of Homeland Security. This new 
Department must have a single, overriding responsibility, to coordinate 
our homeland defense efforts, which are now scattered across the 
Government.
    After less than a week of debate, the House of Representatives 
passed a good bill, a bill that gives me the flexibility to confront 
emerging threats quickly and effectively. Yet after 3 weeks of debate, 
the Senate has still not passed a bill I can sign. The legislation the 
Senate is debating is deeply flawed. The Senate bill would force the new 
Department to fight against terror threats with one hand tied behind its 
back. The Department of Homeland Security must be able to move people 
and resources quickly, to respond to threats immediately without being 
forced to comply with a thick book of bureaucratic rules.
    Yet the current Senate approach keeps in place a cumbersome process 
that can take 5 months to hire a needed employee and 18 months to fire 
someone who is not doing his job. In the war on terror, this is time we 
do not have.
    Even worse, the Senate bill would weaken my existing authority to 
prohibit collective bargaining when national security is at stake. Every 
President since Jimmy Carter has had this very narrow authority 
throughout the Government, and I need this authority in the war on 
terror. As Democrat Senator Zell Miller said, ``The daunting task of 
securing this country is almost incomprehensible. Let's not make it more 
difficult by tying this President's hands and the hands of every 
President who comes after him.''
    In an effort to break the logjam in the Senate, Senator Miller and 
Republican Senator Phil Gramm have taken the lead in crafting a 
bipartisan alternative to the current flawed Senate bill. I commend them 
and support their approach. Their proposal would provide the new 
Secretary of Homeland Security much of the flexibility he needs to move 
people and resources to meet new threats. It will protect every employee 
of the new Department against illegal discrimination and build a culture 
in which Federal employees know they are keeping their fellow citizens 
safe through their service to America.
    I ask you to call your Senators and to urge them to vote for this 
bipartisan alternative. Senators Miller and Gramm, along with Senator 
Fred Thompson, have made great progress in putting the national interest 
ahead of partisan interest. I'm confident that every Senator, Republican 
and Democrat, wants to do what is best for America. Creating a new 
Department of Homeland Security will make America stronger and safer. It 
is time for the Senate to act.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 2:15 p.m. on September 20 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September 
21. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on September 20 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 
an Al Qaida operative suspected of helping to plan the September 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks, who was captured in Karachi, Pakistan; and 
suspected terrorists Sahim A. Alwan, Yahya A. Goba, Yasein A. Taher, and 
Shafal A. Mosed, who were arrested in Lackawanna, NY, on September 13, 
Faysal Galab, who was arrested in Lackawanna on September 14, and 
Mukhtar Ali Albakri, who had also been living in Lackawanna and whose 
arrest was announced on September 16. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.

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