[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 48 (Monday, December 2, 2002)]
[Page 2083]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

November 23, 2002

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you from Europe where, this week, I am 
meeting with NATO Allies and friends to discuss terrorism and other 
threats to our shared security.
    It has also been an important week at home on Capitol Hill. After 2 
years of achievements, which included tax relief and education reform, 
the last days of this session of Congress brought additional historic 
progress. Soon after I return from Europe, I will sign several important 
new laws that help secure the homeland and create jobs.
    Republicans and Democrats approved a Department of Homeland Security 
that will unite dozens of Federal agencies and nearly 170,000 Federal 
workers behind a single, overriding mission, keeping Americans safe. 
This new Department will coordinate our response to any future 
emergency. It will help us know who's coming into our country and who's 
going out. This new Department will bring together the best intelligence 
information about our vulnerabilities to terrorist attack so that we can 
act quickly to protect America. I appreciate the Congress listening to 
my concerns and retaining the authority of the President to put the 
right people in the right place at the right time in defense of our 
country.
    Congress also acted to protect the Nation's ports and coasts by 
passing port security legislation. With this law, we will add port 
security agents, restrict access to sensitive areas, and require ships 
to provide more information about the cargo, crew, and passengers they 
carry. These measures will help keep terrorists and their weapons out of 
America.
    In addition, Congress passed terrorism insurance legislation to help 
protect our economy from any future terrorist attack. This new important 
law will lower insurance premiums and get many real estate and 
construction projects that had been put on hold moving again, creating 
thousands of hardhat jobs.
    On my trip this week here in Europe, I'm consulting with our friends 
and NATO Allies about the new threats to freedom that we face together. 
Today, the United States is joined by more than 90 nations in a global 
coalition against terrorism, sharing intelligence, cutting off terrorist 
finance, and pursuing the terrorists where they plot and train. The 
world is also uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by 
Iraq, whose dictator has already used weapons of mass destruction to 
kill thousands. We must not and will not permit either terrorists or 
tyrants to blackmail freedom-loving nations.
    Our NATO Allies are making important contributions. Sixteen NATO 
countries have sent military forces to the fight against terror in 
Afghanistan, and at this week's summit, NATO committed to build a new 
military response force with strong, ready forces that are prepared to 
deploy on short notice wherever they are needed.
    NATO members also voted to invite seven of Europe's newest 
democracies to join our Alliance. The addition of Bulgaria, Estonia, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia will increase NATO's 
military strength. These nations will also bring greater clarity to 
NATO's purposes because they know, from the hard experience of the 20th 
century, that threats to freedom must be opposed, not ignored or 
appeased.
    This week, we saw the historic expansion of NATO and historic 
progress by Congress. Both will make America more secure.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 12:05 p.m. on November 21 at the 
Ambassador's Residence in Prague, Czech Republic, for broadcast at 10:06 
a.m. on November 23. The transcript was made available by the Office of 
the Press Secretary on November 22 but was embargoed for release until 
the broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.