[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 10 (Monday, March 17, 2008)]
[Pages 345-346]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 8, 2008

    Good morning. This week, I addressed the Department of Homeland 
Security on its fifth anniversary and thanked the men and women who work 
tirelessly to keep us safe. Because of their hard work and the efforts 
of many across all levels of government, we have not suffered another 
attack on our soil since September the 11th, 2001.
    This is not for a lack of effort on the part of the enemy. Al Qaida 
remains determined to attack America again. Two years ago, Usama bin 
Laden warned the American people, quote, ``Operations are under 
preparation, and you will see them on your own ground once they are 
finished,'' end quote. Because the danger remains, we need to ensure our 
intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the 
terrorists.
    Unfortunately, Congress recently sent me an intelligence 
authorization bill that would diminish these vital tools. So today I 
vetoed it. And here is why.
    The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable 
tools in the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key 
terrorist leaders and operatives. This program has produced critical 
intelligence that has helped us prevent a number of attacks. The program 
helped us stop a plot to strike a U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, a 
planned attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, a plot to hijack a 
passenger plane and fly it into Library Tower in Los Angeles, and a plot 
to crash passenger planes into Heathrow Airport or buildings in downtown 
London. And it has helped us understand Al Qaida's structure and 
financing and communications and logistics. Were it not for this 
program, our intelligence community believes that Al Qaida and its 
allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the 
American homeland.
    The main reason this program has been effective is that it allows 
the CIA to use specialized interrogation procedures to question a small 
number of the most dangerous terrorists under careful supervision. The 
bill Congress sent me would deprive the CIA of the authority to use 
these safe and lawful techniques. Instead, it would restrict the CIA's 
range of acceptable interrogation methods to those provided in the Army 
Field Manual. The procedures in this manual were designed for use by 
soldiers questioning lawful combatants captured on the battlefield. They 
were not intended for intelligence professionals trained to question 
hardened terrorists.
    Limiting the CIA's interrogation methods to those in the Army Field 
Manual would be dangerous because the manual is publicly available and 
easily accessible on the Internet. Shortly after 9/11, we learned that 
key Al Qaida operatives had been trained to resist the methods outlined 
in the manual. And this is why we created alternative procedures to 
question the most dangerous Al Qaida operatives, particularly those who 
might have knowledge of attacks planned on our homeland. The best source 
of information about terrorist attacks is the terrorists themselves. If 
we were to shut down this program and restrict the CIA to methods in the 
field manual, we could lose vital information from senior Al Qaida 
terrorists, and that could cost American lives.
    The bill Congress sent me would not simply ban one particular 
interrogation method, as some have implied. Instead, it would eliminate 
all the alternative procedures we've developed to question the world's 
most dangerous and violent terrorists. This would end an effective 
program that Congress authorized just over a year ago.
    The fact that we have not been attacked over the past 6\1/2\ years 
is not a matter of chance. It is the result of good policies and the 
determined efforts of individuals carrying

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them out. We owe these individuals our thanks, and we owe them the 
authorities they need to do their jobs effectively.
    We have no higher responsibility than stopping terrorist attacks. 
And this is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven 
track record of keeping America safe.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on March 7 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 8. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 7 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
address, the President referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of this address.