[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 18 (Monday, May 3, 2004)]
[Pages 706-707]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Conversation With the National Commission on 
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and an Exchange With Reporters

April 29, 2004

    The President. The Vice President and I just finished a good 
conversation with the 9/11 Commission. It was wide ranging. It was 
important. It was just a good discussion, and I appreciate the members.
    I want to thank the Chairman and Vice-Chairman for bringing the 
Commission here and giving us a chance to share views on different 
subjects. They had a lot of good questions. I'm glad I did it. I'm glad 
I took the time. This is an important Commission, and it's important 
that they ask the questions they ask so that they can help make 
recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. It was--I 
enjoyed it.
    Let me ask--answer a couple of questions.

President's Meeting With the 9/11 Commission

    Q. Mr. President, what topic did the Commissioners want to spend 
most of the time on? And were there any subjects that you didn't answer 
or were advised by your Counsel not to answer?
    The President. No, I was never advised by my Counsel not to answer 
anything. I answered every question they asked. Really--probably best 
that I not go into the details of the conversation. Let them incorporate 
into their report. There was a lot of interest in--about how to better 
protect America. In other words, they're very interested in the 
recommendations that they're going to lay out, and I'm interested in 
those as well.
    And we discussed a lot of things, Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated 
Press], a lot of

[[Page 707]]

subjects, and it was a very cordial conversation. I was impressed by the 
questions, and I think it helped them understand how I think and how I 
run the White House and how we deal with threats.
    John [John King, CNN].

Joint Appearance With Vice President Cheney

    Q. Mr. President, as you know, a lot of critics suggested that you 
wanted to appear jointly with the Vice President so that you two could 
keep your stories straight, or something----
    The President. Yes.
    Q. ----can you tell us what you think of the value of appearing 
together and how you would answer those critics?
    The President. Yes. First of all, look, if we had something to hide, 
we wouldn't have met with them in the first place. We answered all their 
questions, and as I say, I think I--I came away good about the session, 
because I wanted them to know how I set strategy, how we run the White 
House, how we deal with threats. The Vice President answered a lot of 
their questions--answered all their questions. And I think it was 
important for them to see our body language as well, how we work 
together.
    But it was--you know, the Commissioners will speak for themselves 
over time. They will let you know whether they thought it was a fruitful 
series of discussions. I think they did. I think they found it to be 
useful.
    Yes.

Transcript

    Q. Mr. President, don't you think that the families deserve to have 
a transcript or to be able to see what you said?
    The President. Adam [Adam Entous, Reuters], you asked me that 
question yesterday.
    Q. I'm hoping for an answer today.
    The President. I've got the same answer.
    Yes.

Al Qaida

    Q. Mr. President, can you say with any confidence that there are no 
Al Qaida operatives active in the country today?
    The President. No, I can't say that.
    Q. Did the Commission ask you about that?
    The President. No, they didn't. But I'm not going to get into any 
more details about what they asked me. I told you I wasn't going to get 
into details about what they asked me, and then I just fell into your 
trap.
    But no, let me talk about vulnerabilities, and then I've got to get 
back to work. We are still vulnerable to attack. And the reason why is, 
Al Qaida still exists. Al Qaida is dangerous. Al Qaida hates us. And we 
have to be correct 100 percent of the time in defending America, and 
they've got to be right once. And therefore, we are vulnerable.
    But people need to know, we're working--we, the government, at all 
levels--are working long hours to protect America. We're doing the best 
we can. The best way to secure America, however, is to stay on the 
offensive and bring those people to justice before they harm America 
again. And that's what we're continuing to do. But yes, so long as 
there's an Al Qaida enemy that is willing to kill, we are vulnerable.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1:16 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Thomas H. Kean, Chairman, and Lee 
H. Hamilton, Vice Chairman, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks 
Upon the United States (9/11 Commission).