[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 4 (Monday, January 30, 2006)]
[Pages 121-123]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Visit to the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, 
Maryland

January 25, 2006

    Thank you very much. I just had a really interesting visit here at 
the National Security Agency, and I want to thank General Alexander and 
all the folks who work out here for their hospitality and their 
briefing. I gave a speech to the men and women who are

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dedicating their lives to serving the American people and preventing 
this country from being attacked again. I was also able to talk to folks 
who work for the NSA, via video. They're around the world--some are in 
Iraq, some in Afghanistan. And it's just such an honor to be able to 
tell these people that the work they do is vital and necessary, and I 
support them 100 percent.
    Most of the accomplishments, of course, that happen out here have 
got to be secret. But I know the good work they're doing. And so I want 
to assure the American people that we are lucky to have such 
professional, smart people working day and night to protect us.
    The National Security Agency is playing a crucial part in the war on 
terror. First of all, the good folks who work out here understand we are 
at war, and they know what we know--that we face determined enemies who 
will strike without warning. And they know what I know, that we must 
learn the intentions of the enemies before they strike. That's what they 
do here--they work to protect us. The efforts of the people out here are 
a crucial part in protecting the homeland, and they've been a crucial 
part in success in Iraq and Afghanistan as well.
    Officials here learn information about plotters and planners and 
people who would do us harm. Now, I understand there's some in America 
who say, ``Well, this can't be true--there are still people willing to 
attack.'' All I would ask them to do is listen to the words of Usama bin 
Laden and take him seriously. When he says he's going to hurt the 
American people again, or try to, he means it. I take it seriously, and 
the people of NSA take it seriously. And most of the American people 
take it seriously as well.
    Part of the war on terror--we've seen that part of the terrorists' 
strategy is to place operatives inside of our country. They blend in 
with civilian population. They get their orders from overseas, and then 
they emerge to strike from within. We must be able to quickly detect 
when someone linked to Al Qaida is communicating with someone inside of 
America. That's one of the challenges of protecting the American people, 
and it's one of the lessons of September the 11th.
    When terrorist operatives are here in America communicating with 
someone overseas, we must understand what's going on if we're going to 
do our job to protect the people. The safety and security of the 
American people depend on our ability to find out who the terrorists are 
talking to and what they're planning.
    In the weeks following September the 11th, I authorized a terrorist 
surveillance program to detect and intercept Al Qaida communications 
involving someone here in the United States. This is a targeted program 
to intercept communications in which intelligence professionals have 
reason to believe that at least one person is a member or agent of Al 
Qaida or a related terrorist organization. The program applies only to 
international communications. In other words, one end of the 
communication must be outside the United States.
    We know that two of the hijackers who struck the Pentagon were 
inside the United States communicating with Al Qaida operatives 
overseas. But we didn't realize they were here plotting the attack until 
it was too late.
    Here's what General Mike Hayden said--he was the former Director 
here at NSA. He's now the Deputy Director of the National Intelligence--
Deputy Director of National Intelligence--and here's what he said 
earlier this week: ``Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it 
is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the 9/11 
Al Qaida operatives in the United States, and we would have identified 
them as such.''
    The 9/11 Commission made clear, in this era of new dangers, we must 
be able to connect the dots before the terrorists strike, so we can stop 
new attacks. And this NSA program is doing just that. General Hayden has 
confirmed that America has gained information from this program that 
would not otherwise have been available. This information has helped 
prevent attacks and save American lives. This terrorist surveillance 
program includes multiple safeguards to protect civil liberties, and it 
is fully consistent with our Nation's laws and Constitution. Federal 
courts have consistently ruled that a President has authority under the 
Constitution to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance against our 
enemies.

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    My predecessors have used the same constitutional authority on 
numerous occasions. And the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress gave 
the President additional authority to use the traditional tools--or 
``fundamental incidents''--of war in the fight against terror when 
Congress passed the authorization for the use of military force in 2001. 
These tools include surveillance to detect and prevent further attacks 
by our enemies. I have the authority, both from the Constitution and the 
Congress, to undertake this vital program. The American people expect me 
to protect their lives and their civil liberties, and that's exactly 
what we're doing with this program.
    I'll continue to reauthorize this program for so long as our country 
faces a continuing threat from Al Qaida and related groups. This enemy 
still wants to do harm to the American people. We cannot let the fact 
that we have not been attacked lull us into the illusion that the 
threats to our Nation have disappeared. They have not disappeared; the 
terrorists are still active. And we've seen their activity in London and 
Madrid and Bali and Beslan and Amman and Baghdad and many other places 
since September the 11th. Just last week, as I mentioned earlier, we 
heard from Usama bin Laden. The terrorists will do everything they can 
to strike us. And I'm going to continue to do everything I can within my 
legal authority to stop them, and so are the good people here at NSA.
    In the long run, we can be confident in the outcome of this 
struggle, because we've seen the power of freedom to defeat tyranny and 
terror before. And we can be confident because we know our military and 
law enforcement and homeland security and intelligence professionals are 
working day and night to protect us.
    I'm grateful for the skill and dedication of the good folks who work 
out here. These are fine patriots, and they're making America safer. 
Thank you all very much.

Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, USA, Director, National Security Agency; 
and Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.