[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 49 (Monday, December 9, 2002)]
[Pages 2126-2129]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 
2002 and an Exchange With Reporters

December 4, 2002

    The President. Good morning. Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you 
for coming.
    Legislation I sign today will create a new place on the Internet 
that is safe for our children to learn and to play and to explore. Dot 
Kids will be part of the U.S. country domain on the Internet. It will 
function much like the children's section of a library, where parents 
feel comfortable allowing their children to browse. It will be a safe 
place for children to go.
    This bill is a wise and necessary step to safeguard our children 
while they use computers and discover the great possibilities of the 
Internet. Every site designated ``.kids'' will be a safe zone for 
children. The sites will be monitored for content, for safety, and all 
objectionable material will be removed. Online chat rooms and instant 
messaging will be prohibited, unless they can be certified as safe. The 
Web-sites under this new domain will not connect a child to other online 
sites outside the child-friendly zone.
    I want to thank the supporters of this good piece of legislation. I 
want to thank them for their hard work: Representatives Shimkus, Upton, 
and Markey, as well as Senators Ensign, Dorgan and Fitzgerald. I want to 
thank them for coming. I am going to ask them

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to come up in just a second as I sign this piece of legislation.
    All of us here today share the same goals: We must give our Nation's 
children every opportunity to grow in knowledge without undermining 
their character. We must give parents effective tools to help their 
children learn. And we must be on the side of our parents as they work 
hard to raise their children. We must give our parents the peace of mind 
knowing their children are learning in safety. This act of Congress 
helps us meet these goals.
    I appreciate you all coming today. It's my honor now to sign the Dot 
Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act. Would the Members join me.

[At this point, the President signed the bill.]

    The President. I'll answer a few questions. Fournier [Ron Fournier, 
Associated Press], I may answer a few questions. You're stuck in a mini 
press conference here. Yes?

U.N. Inspections in Iraq

    Q. Sir, can you tell me specifically what the inspectors have or 
haven't been able to do, what they've uncovered, or what they haven't 
uncovered that leads you to believe that the signs are not encouraging 
that they're doing their job?
    The President. Yes. Well, I can tell you this: This isn't about 
inspectors. The issue is whether Saddam Hussein will disarm. Will he 
disarm in the name of peace? And we expect him to fully comply. And you 
know, one of my concerns is that in the past he has shot at our 
airplanes. Anybody who shoots at U.S. airplanes or British airplanes is 
not somebody who looks like he's interested in complying with 
disarmament. He wrote letters, stinging rebukes to what the U.N. did. He 
was very critical of the U.S. and Britain. That doesn't appear to be 
somebody who was that anxious to comply.
    But we've just started the process. And one of the things that I 
want to continue to remind Americans, this is not a game that we're 
playing of hide-and-seek. This is our attempt to work with the world 
community to create peace. And the best way for peace is for Mr. Saddam 
Hussein to disarm. It's up to him to make his decision.
    Yes.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan/Inspections

    Q. Kofi Annan said Iraq is cooperating. Is there some daylight 
between you and----
    The President. We've been at this--what--5 days. This is after 11 
years of deceit and defiance. And the issue, again, is not hide-and-
seek; the issue is whether or not Saddam Hussein will disarm. And soon 
he'll be making a declaration of whether he has any weapons. For years 
he said he didn't have any weapons. And now we'll see whether or not he 
does. And if he does, we expect them to be completely destroyed and a 
full accounting.
    And I remind our citizens that the U.N. Security Council voted 
overwhelmingly, 15 to nothing, for this approach we've taken. Our NATO 
allies have joined us, and we all expect Saddam Hussein to disarm.
    Stretch [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].
    Q. To follow on what Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters] just asked you, 
do you disagree with the Secretary General's relatively optimistic take 
on things?
    The President. What I agree with is that we've been doing this for 5 
days, after 11 years of deception and deceit. The process is just 
beginning. And the world will determine soon whether or not Saddam 
Hussein is going to do what we've asked, which is, in the name of peace, 
fully disarm. This is not a game anymore of, ``Well, I'll say one thing 
and do another.'' We expect him to disarm. And now it's up to him to do 
so. And time will tell whether or not he is willing to do so.
    Yes.

Situation in Israel

    Q. A 95-year-old woman was killed on the West Bank yesterday, and 
aid groups say that malnutrition among Palestinian children is reaching 
crisis proportions. What are you doing to alleviate that suffering? And 
are you concerned that the desperation of the Palestinian community is 
driving them into the arms of Al Qaida?
    The President. I am concerned that terrorists have disrupted the 
ability for peace-loving people to move a process forward. I

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am concerned about that. And our country will continue to fight terror 
and join our allies in fighting terror wherever it exists. And so I 
fully understand the Israeli Government's attempt to stamp out terror, 
because we'll never have peace so long as terrorists are able to 
disrupt. I'm also concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people. 
I'm concerned about suffering that has taken place as a result of the 
activities of terrorists.
    We're working with the Sharon government to allow for tax receipts 
to be redistributed amongst the Palestinian people. And there are a lot 
of nongovernmental organizations doing work within the Palestinian 
territory to make sure that people don't starve.
    But the net effect of terrorism is to not only stop the peace 
process but is to cause suffering amongst all the people of the region. 
And that's why our war against terror must--must remain steadfast and 
strong, wherever terror exists.
    Yes, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News]. Oh, you just asked a question.
    Q. I'll ask another one----
    The President. No, that's fine. That's plenty. [Laughter] You did a 
wonderful job. It was such a great question, I already forgot it. Next. 
[Laughter]

Al Qaida

    Q. Are you concerned about Al Qaida on the West Bank?
    The President. I am concerned about Al Qaida anywhere. I believe 
that Al Qaida was involved in the African bombings, in Kenya. I believe 
Al Qaida hates freedom. I believe Al Qaida will strike anywhere they can 
in order to disrupt a civil society, and that's why we're on the hunt. 
And we're making progress. Slowly but surely, we're dismantling the Al 
Qaida network. It doesn't matter how long it takes to find them; we'll 
find them. And we're going to bring them to justice. And the good news 
is, is that the free world is--recognizes the threats that we all face, 
and therefore, we're more bound together than we've ever been, in 
cutting off money, in sharing intelligence, and bringing people to 
justice.
    And it's a dangerous world we live in, because there's still 
terrorists on the loose. And this is the great charge we have. This is 
the first war of the 21st century, and it's a different kind of war. 
It's a different kind of war than our fathers and grandfathers fought. 
It requires the same amount of courage and the same amount of focus. And 
this Government will continue to provide that focus.

U.S. Relations With the Muslim World

    Q. Sir, there's a report out today that shows a sharp deterioration 
in public attitudes abroad about this country, particularly among Muslim 
nations and key allies like Turkey and Pakistan. Are you concerned, sir, 
that your message that this is--that the anti-terror campaign is not a 
war against Islam is somehow not getting to those people?
    The President. Well, I haven't seen the report. As you know, I 
remain skeptical about polls. I don't run my administration based upon 
polls and focus groups. I'm running this war against terror based upon 
freedom and doing my obligation to make sure our children can grow up in 
a free and safe society.
    I hope the message that we fight not a religion but a group of 
fanatics which have hijacked a religion is getting through. I understand 
the propaganda machines are cranked up in the international community 
that paints our country in a bad light. We'll do everything we can to 
remind people that we've never been a nation of conquerors; we're a 
nation of liberators.
    And I would ask the skeptics to look at Afghanistan, where not only 
did this country rout the Taliban, which was one of the most barbaric 
regimes in the history of mankind, but thanks to our strength and our 
compassion, many young girls now go to school for the first time. 
General McNeill, who is our general in Afghanistan, was in today, in the 
Situation Room, and gave me a briefing about the human condition in 
Afghanistan. It's improving dramatically. There are projects after 
projects after projects of--going forward where the United States and 
other NGOs are involved to improve the human condition.
    The Muslim world will eventually realize, if they don't now, that we 
believe in freedom and we respect all individuals. Unlike the killers, 
we value each life in America. Everybody is precious. Everybody counts.

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    And to the extent that we need to continue to make that message 
work, we will try to do so. But the best thing we can do is to show 
results from our activities and be able to point to the fact that not 
only did we liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban, we remain in place, 
with a lot of aid and a lot of help. And the suffering of the--the human 
condition is improving, and suffering is less because of the United 
States of America.
    Thank you all. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 10:58 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; and Lt. Gen. Dan K. 
McNeill, USA, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. H.R. 3833, 
approved December 4, was assigned Public Law No. 107-317.