[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 43 (Monday, October 28, 2002)]
[Pages 1833-1834]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Department of Defense Appropriations Act and the 
Military Construction Appropriation Act

October 23, 2002

    Good morning. Please be seated.
    The security of the American people is the first commitment of the 
American Government. Our Nation faces grave new dangers, and our Nation 
must fully support the men and women of our military who confront these 
dangers on our behalf.
    The Department of Defense and the Military Construction 
Appropriations bills I sign today will make our country more secure, 
make our military forces more prepared, and reward military families for 
their sacrifice in service.
    These bills, passed with bipartisan support, send a message: America 
is united; America is strong; and America will remain strong.
    I appreciate so very much Vice President Cheney joining me today. He 
is a great Vice President. I appreciate Secretary of Defense Donald 
Rumsfeld joining me today. He's a great Secretary of Defense. I 
appreciate Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz coming. I want to thank Tom White, 
the Secretary of the Army. I want to thank the Members of the Congress 
who have joined us today, both Democrat and Republican: Senator Byron 
Dorgan of North Dakota, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Bill Young of 
Florida, Dave Hobson of Ohio, and Jim Moran of Virginia.
    I want to thank the service chiefs who are here. They've done such a 
good job for our country. I want to thank their senior enlisted 
advisers. I want to thank the friends of the United States military who 
are here in the Rose Garden today. I want to thank those who wear the 
uniform who are here. And I welcome my fellow Americans.
    Since September the 11th, Americans have been reminded that the 
safety of many depends on the courage and skill of a few. We've asked 
our military to bring justice to agents of terror. We've asked our 
military to liberate a captive people on the other side of the Earth. 
We've asked our military to prepare for conflict in Iraq, if it proves 
necessary. We're asking young Americans to serve in many places far from 
home and at great risk. We owe them every resource, every weapon, and 
every tool they need to fulfill their missions.
    The best military in the world must have every advantage required to 
defend the peace of the world. And the best military in the world is 
making good progress on this, the first war of the 21st century.
    It's a different kind of war. Our military knows it. After all, 
we're on an international manhunt. We're chasing coldblooded killers 
down, one killer at a time. And we're making good progress. We've hauled 
in or arrested, thanks to our military and our friends and allies, over 
a couple of thousand killers, and like number weren't as lucky. In 
either case, they're no longer a threat to the American people.
    Sometimes the American people will see the progress we're making, 
and sometimes they won't. They just need to know that the United States 
military is after them, one person at a time.
    The bill I sign today also sends a clear signal to friend and foe 
alike that it doesn't matter how long it takes to defend our freedom; 
the United States of America will stay the course. There is no timetable 
in the Oval Office here behind me that says at a certain period of time, 
we no longer care deeply about our freedoms, and therefore, we're going 
to quit. There's no such timetable. The bill today says America is 
determined and resolute to not only defend our freedom but defend 
freedom around the world, that we're determined and resolute to answer 
the call to history, and that we will defeat terror.
    This year's defense bill provides nearly $355 billion to protect our 
country, more than $37 billion increase from fiscal year 2002--for 
fiscal year 2002. We're matching increased funding with clear 
priorities.
    First, this legislation takes care of our men and women in uniform 
and their families. We provide the money for a pay increase of 4.1 
percent for service members, provide for additional full-time support 
personnel for the National Guard and Reserves, continue to reduce the 
out-of-pocket cost for housing for our service members and their 
families.
    The Military Construction Appropriations bill adds $10.5 billion for 
building and upgrading military installations and for military

[[Page 1834]]

family housing. We're taking care of our people. We want the people who 
wear the uniform to know America appreciates their service.
    Secondly, this year's defense bill will ensure that our military is 
ready and well-equipped. We increased funds for operations and 
maintenance by more than $5 billion, provide nearly $72 billion for 
weapon procurement, an $11 billion increase. Today's American forces are 
ready and able to deploy to any point in the globe to defeat any foe, 
and we're going to keep it that way.
    Third, this legislation begins developing the next generations of 
weaponry that will win battles in the future. We invest almost $58 
billion in research and development. At the same time, the bill ends 
some weapons systems that aren't going to meet the needs of the future, 
and that's an important contribution to our military. To have the 
willingness to say, ``This program works, and this one doesn't,'' is 
important. So we ended the Crusader artillery program, a program that 
was designed for a different era.
    Instead, we will fund new systems, systems that will enable our 
military to do a more effective job at defending America and our 
freedoms, systems such as the unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator 
and the Global Hawk that we've used so effectively in Afghanistan.
    We fund efforts to adopt cold war systems like the Trident submarine 
to meet the new 21st century missions. We fund over $7 billion to 
protect America and our friends from the threat of ballistic missiles.
    I'm grateful that Congress completed its important work on defense 
and military construction appropriations bills. I want to thank them for 
working hard on these two important pieces of legislation. I appreciate 
the bipartisan spirit.
    There's still important work to complete. For example, Congress has 
yet to act on my proposal to nearly double overall funding for homeland 
defense, including my request for unprecedented funding levels for 
police and firefighters and emergency medical personnel who are on the 
frontlines of defending our citizens.
    In addition, our new homeland--Department of Homeland Security is 
stalled in the Senate. The defense bill I will sign today funds our 
soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, all of which exist in a single 
Department. That Department was created by President Harry Truman when 
he reorganized our Nation's defense structure to meet the security 
threats of a new era.
    Today we are once again in a new era. Yet our homeland security 
activities are spread among more than 100 different Government agencies. 
America needs a single Department of government dedicated to protecting 
our people and to protecting our homeland. We can't wait any longer. The 
threats to America are simply too great. Providing for the security of 
our country is a broader task than just keeping our military strong. I 
look forward to working with Congress on all the measures needed to 
build the strength and security of the greatest nation on the face of 
the Earth.
    It is now my honor to sign the Department of Defense Appropriations 
Act and the Military Construction Appropriations Act.

Note: The President spoke at 10:40 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. H.R. 5010, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, and H.R. 
5011, the Military Construction Appropriation Act, approved October 23, 
were assigned Public Law No. 107-248 and Public Law No. 107-249, 
respectively. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of these remarks.