[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 29 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Pages 1254-1258]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

July 12, 2004

    Thank you for the warm welcome. I realize the Y-12 National Security 
Complex doesn't get a lot of visitors--[laughter]. Thanks for the 
special arrangements. I'm also glad to have the opportunity to thank 
each one of you for the vital work you do here. And please pass the word 
to your fellow employees, many of whom were waving, I want you to know, 
as we drove in, for which I'm thankful. The Nation counts on your great 
expertise and your professionalism in producing, protecting, and 
maintaining material that is critical to our security. America is safer 
because of your service at Oak Ridge. You need to know our Nation is 
grateful for that service.
    I appreciate our Secretary of Energy, Spence Abraham. He traveled 
with me today. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your service.
    I want to thank Jeffrey Wadsworth, who's the Director of Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory. It's not the first time I have met Jeffrey. I 
appreciate Jon Kreykes. I want to thank all the people who helped make 
this visit a successful visit.
    I want to thank Senator Lamar Alexander, the other Members of the 
United States Congress who are traveling with us today--strong 
supporters, by the way, of Oak Ridge.
    I appreciate the mayor being here, David Bradshaw. Mr. Mayor, 
appreciate you taking time to come. I want to thank my fellow citizens 
for giving me a chance to come and visit.
    I've just had a close look at some of the dangerous equipment 
secured in this place. Eight months ago, the centrifuge parts and 
processing equipment for uranium were 5,000 miles away in the nation of 
Libya. They

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were part of a secret nuclear weapons program. Today, Libya, America, 
and the world are better off because these components are safely in your 
care.
    These materials are the sobering evidence of a great danger. Certain 
regimes, often with ties to terrorist groups, seek the ultimate weapons 
as a shortcut to influence. These materials voluntarily turned over by 
the Libyan Government are also encouraging evidence that nations can 
abandon these ambitions and choose a better way.
    Libya is dismantling its weapons of mass destruction and long-range 
missile programs. This progress came about through quiet diplomacy 
between America, Britain, and the Libyan Government. This progress was 
set in motion, however, by policies declared in public to all the world. 
The United States, Great Britain, and many other nations are determined 
to expose the threats of terrorism and proliferation and to oppose those 
threats with all our power. We have sent this message in the strongest 
diplomatic terms, and we have acted where action was required.
    Every potential adversary now knows that terrorism and proliferation 
carry serious consequences, and that the wise course is to abandon those 
pursuits. By choosing that course, the Libyan Government is serving the 
interests of its own people and adding to the security of all nations.
    America's determination to actively oppose the threats of our time 
was formed and fixed on September the 11th, 2001. On that day we saw the 
cruelty of the terrorists, and we glimpsed the future they intend for 
us. They intend to strike the United States to the limits of their 
power. They seek weapons of mass destruction to kill Americans on an 
even greater scale. And this danger is increased when outlaw regimes 
build or acquire weapons of mass destruction and maintain ties to 
terrorist groups.
    This is our danger but not our fate. America has the resources and 
the strength and the resolve to overcome this threat. We are waging a 
broad and unrelenting war against terror and an active campaign against 
proliferation. We refuse to live in fear. We are making steady progress.
    To protect our people, we're staying on the offensive against 
threats within our own country. We are using the PATRIOT Act to track 
terrorist activity and to break up terror cells. Intelligence and law 
enforcement officials are sharing information as never before. We've 
transformed the mission of the FBI to focus on preventing terrorism. 
Every element of our homeland security plan is critical because the 
terrorists are ruthless and resourceful, and we know they're preparing 
to attack us again. It's not possible to guarantee perfect security in 
our vast, free nation. But I can assure our fellow Americans, many fine 
professionals in intelligence and national security and homeland 
security and law enforcement are working around the clock, doing 
everything they can to protect the country. And we're grateful to them 
all.
    To overcome the dangers of our time, America is also taking a new 
approach in the world. We're determined to challenge new threats, not 
ignore them or simply wait for future tragedy. We're helping to build a 
hopeful future in hopeless places, instead of allowing troubled regions 
to remain in despair and explode in violence. Our goal is a lasting, 
democratic peace in which free nations are free from the threat of 
sudden terror.
    Our strategy for peace has three commitments: First, we are 
defending the peace by taking the fight to the enemy. We will confront 
them overseas so we do not have to confront them here at home. We are 
destroying the leadership of terrorist networks in sudden raids, 
disrupting their planning and financing, and keeping them on the run. 
Month by month, we are shrinking the space in which they can freely 
operate by denying them territory and the support of governments.
    Second, we're protecting the peace by working with friends and 
allies and international institutions to isolate and confront terrorists 
and outlaw regimes. America is leading a broad coalition of nations to 
disrupt proliferation. We're working with the United Nations, the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, and other international 
organizations to take action in our common security. The global threat 
of terrorism requires a global response. To be effective, that global 
response requires leadership, and America will lead.

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    Third, we are extending the peace by supporting the rise of 
democracy and the hope and progress that democracy brings as the 
alternative to hatred and terror in the broader Middle East. In 
democratic and successful societies, men and women do not swear 
allegiance to malcontents and murderers; they turn their hearts and 
labor to building better lives. And democratic governments do not 
shelter terrorist camps or attack their peaceful neighbors. When justice 
and democracy advance, so does the hope of lasting peace.
    We have followed this strategy--defending the peace, protecting the 
peace, and extending the peace--for nearly 3 years. We have been focused 
and patient, firm and consistent. And the results are all now clear to 
see.
    Three years ago, the nation of Afghanistan was the home base of Al 
Qaida, a country ruled by the Taliban, one of the most backward and 
brutal regimes of modern history. Schooling was denied girls. Women were 
whipped in the streets and executed in a sports stadium. Millions lived 
in fear. With protection from the Taliban, Al Qaida and its associates 
trained, indoctrinated, and sent forth thousands of killers to set up 
terror cells in dozens of countries, including our own.
    Today, Afghanistan is a world away from the nightmare of the 
Taliban. That country has a good and just President. Boys and girls are 
being educated. Many refugees have returned home to rebuild their 
country, and a Presidential election is scheduled for this fall. The 
terror camps are closed and the Afghan government is helping us to hunt 
the Taliban and terrorists in remote regions. Today, because we acted to 
liberate Afghanistan, a threat has been removed and the American people 
are safer.
    Three years ago, Pakistan was one of the few countries in the world 
that recognized the Taliban regime. Al Qaida was active and recruiting 
in Pakistan and was not seriously opposed. Pakistan served as a transit 
point for Al Qaida terrorists leaving Afghanistan on missions of murder. 
Yet the United States was not on good terms with Pakistan's military and 
civilian leaders, the very people we would need to help shut down Al 
Qaida operations in that part of the world.
    Today, the Governments of the United States and Pakistan are working 
closely in the fight against terror. President Musharraf is a friend of 
our country who helped us capture Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the operational 
planner behind the September the 11th attacks. And Pakistani forces are 
rounding up terrorists along their nation's western border. Today, 
because we're working with the Pakistani leaders, Pakistan is an ally in 
the war on terror and the American people are safer.
    Three years ago, terrorists were well-established in Saudi Arabia. 
Inside that country, fundraisers and other facilitators gave Al Qaida 
financial and logistical help with little scrutiny or opposition. Today, 
after the attacks in Riyadh and elsewhere, the Saudi Government knows 
that Al Qaida is its enemy. Saudi Arabia is working hard to shut down 
the facilitators and financial supporters of terrorism. The Government 
has captured or killed many first-tier leaders of the Al Qaida 
organization in Saudi Arabia, including one last week. Today, because 
Saudi Arabia has seen the danger and has joined the war on terror, the 
American people are safer.
    Three years ago, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America who 
provided safe haven for terrorists, used weapons of mass destruction, 
and turned his nation into a prison. Saddam Hussein was not just a 
dictator; he was a proven mass murderer who refused to account for 
weapons of mass murder. Every responsible nation recognized this threat 
and knew it could not go on forever.
    America must remember the lessons of September the 11th. We must 
confront serious dangers before they fully materialize. And so my 
administration looked at the intelligence on Iraq, and we saw a threat. 
Members of the United States Congress from both political parties looked 
at the same intelligence, and they saw a threat. The United Nations 
Security Council looked at the intelligence, and it saw a threat. The 
previous administration and the Congress looked at the intelligence and 
made regime change in Iraq the policy of our country.
    In 2002, the United Nations Security Council yet again demanded a 
full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs. As he had for over 
a decade, Saddam Hussein

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refused to comply. In fact, according to former weapons inspector David 
Kay, Iraq's weapons programs were elaborately shielded by security and 
deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom. So I had a choice to make: Either take the word of a 
madman, or defend America. Given that choice, I will defend America 
every time. [Applause] Thanks.
    Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass 
destruction, we were right to go into Iraq. We removed a declared enemy 
of America who had the capability of producing weapons of mass murder 
and could have passed that capability to terrorists bent on acquiring 
them. In the world after September the 11th, that was a risk we could 
not afford to take.
    Today, the dictator who caused decades of death and turmoil, who 
twice invaded his neighbors, who harbored terrorist leaders, who used 
chemical weapons on innocent men, women, and children, is finally before 
the bar of justice. Iraq, which once had the worst government in the 
Middle East, is now becoming an example of reform to the region. And 
Iraqi security forces are fighting beside coalition troops to defeat the 
terrorists and foreign fighters who threaten their nation and the world. 
Today, because America and our coalition helped to end the violent 
regime of Saddam Hussein and because we're helping to raise a peaceful 
democracy in its place, the American people are safer.
    Three years ago, the nation of Libya, a longtime supporter of 
terror, was spending millions to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. 
Today, thousands of Libya's chemical munitions have been destroyed. And 
nuclear processing equipment that could ultimately have threatened the 
lives of hundreds of thousands is stored away right here in Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee. Today, because the Libyan Government saw the seriousness of 
the civilized world and correctly judged its own interests, the American 
people are safer.
    Three years ago, a private weapons proliferation network was doing 
business around the world. This network, operated by the Pakistani 
nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, was selling nuclear plans and equipment to 
the highest bidder and found willing buyers in places like Libya, Iran, 
and North Korea. Today, the A.Q. Khan network is out of business. We 
have ended one of the most dangerous sources of proliferation in the 
world, and the American people are safer.
    Breaking this proliferation network was possible because of the 
outstanding work done by the CIA. Dedicated intelligence officers were 
tireless in obtaining vital information, sometimes at great personal 
risk. Our intelligence services do an essential job for America. I thank 
them for their dedication and hard work.
    The Senate Intelligence Committee has identified some shortcomings 
in our intelligence capabilities; the committee's report will help us in 
the work of reform. Our Nation needs more intelligence agents--what is 
called human intelligence--to cover the globe. We must have the best 
cutting-edge technology to listen and look for dangers. We must have 
better coordination among intelligence services. I need and the Congress 
needs the best possible intelligence in order to protect the American 
people. We're determined to make sure we get it.
    Three years ago, the world was very different. Terrorists planned 
attacks with little fear of discovery or reckoning. Outlaw regimes 
supported terrorists and defied the civilized world without shame and 
with few consequences. Weapons proliferators sent their deadly shipments 
and grew wealthy, encountering few obstacles to their trade.
    The world changed on September the 11th, and since that day, we have 
changed the world. We are leading a steady, confident, systematic 
campaign against the dangers of our time. There are still terrorists who 
plot against us, but the ranks of their leaders are thinning, and they 
know what fate awaits them. There are still regimes actively supporting 
the terrorists, but fewer than there used to be. There are still outlaw 
regimes pursuing weapons of mass destruction, but the world no longer 
looks the other way. Today, because America has acted and because 
America has led, the forces of terror and tyranny have suffered defeat 
after defeat and America and the world are safer.
    All this progress has been achieved with the help of other 
responsible nations. The case of Libya's nuclear disarmament is a good 
example. In the fall of 2003, American and

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British intelligence were tracking a large shipment of nuclear equipment 
bound for Tripoli aboard a German-registered cargo ship. We alerted 
German and Italian authorities, who diverted the ship to an Italian port 
where the cargo was confiscated. We worked together. These events helped 
encourage Libya to reconsider its nuclear ambitions. That was a dramatic 
breakthrough, achieved by allies working together. And the cooperation 
of America's allies in the war on terror is very, very strong.
    We're grateful to the more than 60 nations that are supporting the 
Proliferation Security Initiative to intercept illegal weapons and 
equipment by sea, land, and air. We're grateful to the more than 30 
nations with forces serving in Iraq and the nearly 40 nations with 
forces in Afghanistan. In the fight against terror, we've asked our 
allies to do hard things. They've risen to their responsibilities. We're 
proud to call them friends.
    We have duties, and there will be difficulties ahead. We're working 
with responsible governments and international institutions to convince 
the leaders of North Korea and Iran that their nuclear weapons ambitions 
are deeply contrary to their own interests.
    We're helping governments fight poverty and disease so they do not 
become failed states and future havens for terror. We've launched our 
Broader Middle East Initiative to encourage reform and democracy 
throughout the region, a project that will shape the history of our 
times for the better. We're working to build a free and democratic 
Palestinian state, which lives in peace with Israel and adds to the 
peace of the region.
    We're keeping our commitments to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, 
who are building the world's newest democracies. They're counting on us 
to help. We will not abandon them. Delivering these nations from tyranny 
has required sacrifice and loss. We will honor that sacrifice by 
finishing the great work we have begun.
    In this challenging period of our history, Americans fully 
understand the dangers to our country. We remain a nation at risk, 
directly threatened by an enemy that plots in secret to cause terrible 
harm and grief. We remain a nation at war, fighting for our security, 
our freedom, and our way of life. We also see our advantages clearly. 
Americans have a history of rising to every test; our generation is no 
exception. We've not forgotten September the 11th, 2001. We will not 
allow our enemies to forget it either.
    We have strong allies, including millions of people in the Middle 
East who want to live in freedom. And the ideals we stand for have a 
power of their own. The appeal of justice and liberty, in the end, is 
greater than the appeal of hatred and tyranny in any form. The war on 
terror will not end in a draw. It will end in a victory, and you and I 
will see that victory of human freedom.
    I want to thank you all for coming. Thank you for your dedication. 
May God bless you and your families, and may God continue to bless our 
great country. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:18 a.m. in Building 4500 of the 
laboratory. In his remarks, he referred to Jon Kreykes, manager, 
National Security Advanced Technology Programs, Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory; Mayor David Bradshaw of Oak Ridge, TN; President Hamid 
Karzai of Afghanistan; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; and 
former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.