[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 50 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Page 2933]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Fort Belvoir, Virginia

December 10, 2004

    Listen, Laura and I are thrilled to be out here, and we want to 
thank you all for greeting us and thank you for giving us a chance to 
participate in this assemblyline of compassion.
    First, I want to thank Elaine Rogers, who is the president of the 
USO of metropolitan Washington. Ned Powell--I appreciate Ned for being 
here as well. It turns out that my grandfather Prescott S. Bush was the 
first president and CEO of USO, so it's only fitting that I'm coming--
working in the assemblyline. [Laughter] But I want to thank you for your 
leadership.
    I want to thank Cheryl Hall. I want to thank Colonel T.W. Williams, 
the garrison commander of Ft. Belvoir. I want to thank Command Sergeant 
Major Andre Douglas. He reminded me that he and I spent Thanksgiving 
together last year in Baghdad. So it's great to see you again, Command 
Sergeant Major. I want to thank Mary Jo Myers, the wife of my friend 
General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
    Most of all, I want to thank all the volunteers who are here. I want 
to thank your spirit.
    So, Scott asked me what's--what are we doing? I said, ``We're 
sending packages to our troops overseas, a package full of all different 
goodies, you know, a little gum, playing cards.'' But you can't ever 
thank the troops enough. This is one way of saying America appreciates 
your service to freedom and peace and our security. You can't put enough 
playing cards in there; you can't put enough sticks of gum.
    But I hope our troops understand that with this package comes a lot 
of support and a lot of affection from not only a husband or a wife or a 
mom or a dad but, equally important, an average citizen who you never 
met, somebody who deeply appreciates your service, somebody who 
understands the mission, and somebody who stands solidly with you as you 
work to make the world a better place.
    I know it's hard for our families--military families to be separated 
from a loved one during any time but, in particular, during the holiday 
season. And so we ask for God's blessings, not only on our troops who 
are overseas, but we ask for the Lord's blessings on our family members.
    This is--this whole operation here is cranking out a lot of care 
packages. So far, 480,000 soldiers overseas have received a care 
package. And with it, as I said, is a message of good will and hope. 
We're--this is an historic time we live in. The world is changing. And 
as it changes, as the world becomes more free, America becomes more 
secure and the peace we all long for becomes more real.
    And so during these holiday seasons, we thank our blessings, and one 
of the greatest blessings of all is the United States military and their 
families. Thank you for having us. I look forward to coming by to thank 
each of you.
    Our intention here is not to stop progress but to encourage 
progress. [Laughter] Thanks for your hard work. If any of our fellow 
citizens are interested to know how you can help, there's a web page set 
up at the Defense Department and/or at the USA Freedom Corps for ways to 
help the USO or any other organization that supports our United States 
military.
    God bless you all, and thanks for letting us come by.

Note: The President spoke at 2:08 p.m. in the USO Warehouse. In his 
remarks, he referred to Edward A. Powell, Jr., president and chief 
executive officer, United Service Organizations, Inc.; and Cheryl Laaker 
Hall, director, Operation USO Care Package. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.