    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 35 (Monday, September 4, 2006)]
    [Pages 1536-1537]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on Arrival in Salt Lake City, Utah

    August 30, 2006

    War on Terror

        Thank you all for coming out. I can't thank you enough for this
    fantastic Utah welcome. I am delighted to be here in Salt Lake City. My
    only regret is that Laura is not here to see this great crowd. She sends
    her best; she sends her love.
        I want to thank the Governor for being here today. Governor, thank
    you for coming. I want to thank your two fine United States Senators,
    Senator Hatch and Bennett for joining us. I thank Congressmen Matheson,
    Bishop, and Cannon for being here as well. I want to thank you all for
    coming.
        Most of all, I want to thank you all for staying up a little past
    your bedtime, for some of you, to greet me.
        I'm looking forward to talking tomorrow to our veterans. I'm going
    to tell the veterans how much America appreciates their service to the
    United States of America. And I'm going to thank our veterans for
    setting such a great example for incredibly fine men and women who wear
    the uniform of the United States military today.
        These are challenging times. I wish I could report to you that all
    is well, but there's still an enemy that wants to harm the United States
    of America because of what we stand for. We learned that lesson earlier
    this month, when, because of the good work of our friends in Great
    Britain and some of our own help, we stopped a terrorist plot against
    the United States. This is the challenge of our time and my most
    important duty. And the most important duty of our Government is to
    protect the American people from further attack.
        We will stay on the offense and defeat the terrorists abroad so we
    do not have to face them here at home. And as we do so, we'll remember
    the power of freedom and liberty to transform regions of hate to regions
    of compassion. I believe there's an Almighty, and I believe the great
    gift of the Almighty to every man and woman on the Earth is the desire
    to live in freedom.
        Iraq is the central front in this war on terror. If we leave the
    streets of Baghdad before the job is done, we will have to face the
    terrorists in our own cities. We will stay the course. We will help this
    young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major
    ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century.
        I firmly believe we'll succeed. We'll succeed in spreading liberty.
    And as we do so, we can say that this generation did our duty and laid
    the foundation of peace for generations to come.

    [[Page 1537]]

        For those of you with loved ones in the United States military, I
    thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't tell you how proud I am
    to be the Commander in Chief of such a fantastic group of young men and
    women. And I'll make this pledge to you: Our Government will make sure
    your loved ones have all the support, all the help, all the training
    necessary to do their job of defending freedom, defending America, and
    spreading liberty that will yield the peace we all want.
        So I want to thank you all for coming. It warms my heart to see such
    a huge crowd. May God bless the great State of Utah, and may God bless
    America. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:04 p.m. at the Utah Air National Guard
    base at the Salt Lake International Airport. In his remarks, he referred
    to Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks.