19 September 2001
Transcript: Bush Remarks at Meeting with Congressional Leadership
(Says he'll address Congress night of September 20) (1630)
President Bush, at a meeting with leaders from the House and Senate,
said he had accepted their invitation to address a joint session of
Congress about the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States
and steps the United States is taking to root out international
terrorism around the world.
"And for those who try to pit religion against religion, our great
nation will stand up and reject that kind of thought," he said. "We
won't allow that to creep into the consciousness of the world. We're
going to lead the world to fight for freedom, and we'll have Muslim
and Jew and Christian side-by-side with us."
Bush added that "in terms of foreign policy and in terms of the
world," the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York have
"provided us with an interesting opportunity. One of the opportunities
is in the Middle East. I'm pleased with the fact that Chairman Arafat
and Prime Minister Sharon have taken positive steps toward bringing
peace to the region. I think we have an opportunity to refashion the
thinking between Pakistan and India. I think there's some interesting
opportunities to shake terrorism loose from sponsor states."
Following is the transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
September 19, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT PHOTO OPPORTUNITY WITH HOUSE AND SENATE
LEADERSHIP
THE PRESIDENT: I want to welcome the members of the leadership of the
Congress here, and I want the nation to know how proud I am of how
they have helped unite our country. Senator Daschle and the Speaker
and Senator Lott and Representative Gephardt have really showed that
in times of emergency and crisis, that our government can function in
a way that is just exemplary. And I want to thank them for coming
down.
I'm also so pleased to accept the invitation of the Speaker and the
leaders to come and address the Congress tomorrow night. I look
forward to the opportunity to explaining to the American people who it
is and who would do this to our great country, and why -- why would
people choose America?
A lot of our citizens have got a lot of questions about what has taken
place on September the 11th and subsequent to that. And I owe it to
the country to give an explanation. And I want to thank the Congress
for giving me a chance. I can't think of a better place than to talk
about freedom and the battle to maintain freedom in one of the
greatest halls of freedom. And that is in the United States Congress.
So, thank you for the invitation. I accept wholeheartedly, and I will
see you all tomorrow night.
I would be glad to answer a couple of questions. Ron?
Q: Mr. President, will you be able to tell all Americans whether
they're going to be safe while you prepare to retaliate, or could
terrorists strike again while we prepare for war?
THE PRESIDENT: Ron, I think America needs to know that we in
government are on alert; that we recognize life around the White House
or around the Congress is not normal, or is not the way it used to be,
because we're very aware that people have conducted an act of war on
our country; and that all of us urge our fellow Americans to go back
to work and to work hard, but we must be on alert. Our government is
working hard to make sure that we run down every lead, every
opportunity, to find someone who would want to hurt any American.
The American people are united. They're united in their resolve to
help heal the nation. But they're also united in the understanding
that we've entered into a new day, and we'll deal with it.
Q: Sir, you've been stressing that this is not a war against Islam.
However, there are some around the world who view the coming battle
along religious lines. I'm wondering how worried you are that some
view this as a holy war. And are declarations of jihad at all
affecting U.S. plans
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that question. First of all, it is so
important for my fellow Americans, as well as everybody in the world
to understand that America will hold those evil-doers accountable. We
don't view this as a war of religion, in any way, shape or form. As a
matter of fact, Islam preaches peace. The Muslim faith is a peaceful
faith. And there are millions of good Americans who practice the
Muslim faith who love their country as much as I love the country, who
salute the flag as strongly as I salute the flag.
And for those who try to pit religion against religion, our great
nation will stand up and reject that kind of thought. We won't allow
that to creep into the consciousness of the world. We're going to lead
the world to fight for freedom, and we'll have Muslim and Jew and
Christian side-by-side with us.
Q: Mr. President, you promised only to dip into the Social Security
surplus in an emergency, a recession, or war. And in your words, this
constitutes a war. How much of the Social Security surplus are you
prepared to spend?
THE PRESIDENT: We are -- not only has someone conducted an act of war
on us, our economy has slowed way down and this is an emergency. We've
had all three, it seems like to me. And I'm going to work with
Congress to send a clear message to America, American workers,
American business people, that this government will respond to this
emergency.
We'll respond to the emergency in terms of working on a package for
the airline industry that has been severely affected. We'll respond to
work to fight terrorism. The Congress has already responded, with a
supplemental that will not only help fund our military, but as
importantly, will send a clear message to the people of New York and
New Jersey and Connecticut that we'll help you rebuild.
And this is exactly the subject we talked about. The definition of how
much -- is enough to get America going again as to be able to endure
this emergency.
Q: And if that means all the surplus, are you prepared to spend all
the surplus?
THE PRESIDENT: We're reasonable people. The members here, the leaders
from the Congress are very reasonable. And they are mindful about
government money as well as anybody else. But we're dedicated, we're
dedicated to saying to the American people, this is an emergency, the
likes of which we have not seen in a long time in this country, and
this government will come together and deal with it. And that's
exactly what's going to happen.
Q: Sorry to ask another one, but did you mean to say just now that we
are in a recession? You said, it looks to me like we've got all three.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I said -- well, I said -- let me put it this way --
tough economic times. There's no question it's tough times. And, Ron,
I don't have all the numbers, but let me just say this: I can pick up
all the statistics, but make no mistake about it, this has affected
our economy in a big way. Now, I've still got faith that we'll
recover. The strength of the American economy has always been our
entrepreneurial spirit and our workers, and that's still prevalent.
But you've seen the statistics on the airlines -- they're beginning to
lay off people. Big airline manufacturing companies responding. And
this government will respond.
Now, I don't have -- don't get me wrong, I don't have all the numbers
at my disposal because they have to start counting them up, but this
has shocked our economy. And we're going to respond. And that's
exactly what this leadership and I have been talking about.
Q: Mr. President, do you feel like you've got the full support of
President Musharraf? And how hard is it going to be for him to live up
to his pledges, given his domestic situation?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there's no question that President Musharraf has
taken a bold position, which is to say he will work to the extent he
can with America and our allies as we deal with the prime suspect in
the case. And we appreciate so very much his statement of support.
I said we'll give the President a chance to perform, and I believe he
has done -- done so. We will work and consult closely with Pakistan
and India to make sure that that part of the world is as stable as can
possibly be stable.
Let me say that, in terms of foreign policy and in terms of the world,
this horrible strategy has provided us with an interesting
opportunity. One of the opportunities is in the Middle East. I'm
pleased with the fact that Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Sharon
have taken positive steps toward bringing peace to the region. I think
we have an opportunity to refashion the thinking between Pakistan and
India. I think there's some interesting opportunities to shake
terrorism loose from sponsor states.
And this government, working with Congress, are going to seize the
moment. Out of our tears I said I see opportunity, and we will seek
opportunity, positive developments from this horrible tragedy that has
befallen our nation.
Thank you all.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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