21 March 2002
Bush Vows to Fight Terror Wherever It Exists
(Speech in El Paso, Texas March 21) (3030)
President Bush said the United States will fight terror wherever it
exists.
"This is a dangerous world. Too many people are losing their lives to
murderers. History has called us into action. We cannot let the
terrorists take over freedom-loving societies, and we will not," Bush
said in a speech in El Paso, Texas March 21.
Bush said the United States will hunt down terrorists and bring them
to justice. He said the U.S. government will call upon leaders around
the world to join in the fight against terror.
The president said he has submitted a budget to Congress containing
the largest increase in defense spending in two generations to fund
the campaign against terror and assure the security of the United
States.
"The budget I submitted to Congress, while it may be high, the price
of freedom is never too high," Bush said.
Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell stopped in El Paso, Texas en
route to an international conference on development in Monterey,
Mexico.
Bush said a strong and prosperous Mexico is good for the United
States, and he thanked Mexican leaders for their "strong and steady
resolve" in the fight against terror and drug trafficking.
Bush said the United States is modernizing its border control system
with Mexico to allow legal commerce and travel to take place without
difficulty while preventing undesirables from crossing the border.
[W]e want to use our technology to make sure that we weed out those
who we don't want in our country -- the terrorists, the coyotes, the
smugglers, those who prey on innocent life," Bush said.
Following is a transcript of Bush's speech in El Paso:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (El Paso, Texas)
March 21, 2002 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN EL PASO WELCOME
El Paso International Airport El Paso, Texas
11:33 A.M. MST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. So,
Laura and I were heading down to Mexico, and we decided to stop to see
a lot of our friends. (Applause.) And there's no better place to see a
lot of our friends than El Paso, Texas. (Applause.)
I want to thank you all for coming out. I want to thank you for being
here. As you know, I had a change of address, but my home is still
Texas. (Applause.) I love to be with my fellow Texans. (Applause.) And
I'm really happy that Laura came with me today. (Applause.) As you
know, she's doing a great job as First Lady. (Applause.)
I'm a lucky man to have Laura as a wife. Some people are wondering how
lucky she is to have me as a husband. (Laughter.) But I attribute the
fact that she has done such a fabulous job to this: Every summer, when
she was a kid she came to El Paso, Texas. (Applause.)
I'm also honored to be traveling today with a fantastic Secretary of
State, Colin Powell. (Applause.) Colin Powell has cobbled together one
of the great coalitions ever; a coalition determined to fight terror
wherever we find it. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your love for
America, thank you for your love for freedom, and thank you for your
service to this country. (Applause.)
You know, when the enemy hit us, I knew we needed a strategy to
protect our homeland. We needed a strategy to -- something to put in
place to do the very best we can to protect our citizens. And I turned
to a friend of mine to lead the strategy -- the former governor of the
state of Pennsylvania, a strong leader, a capable man, a Vietnam vet
-- Tom Ridge. (Applause.)
I'm proud to be on the stage with a man who's doing a fabulous job for
the people of Texas, the Governor of the state of Texas, Rick Perry.
(Applause.) And I was proud to travel from Washington, D.C., back to
his home territory with a fine Congressman, a man who understands the
border, a man who loves Texas -- Henry Bonilla. (Applause.)
We've really come for more than just to see our friends. We've come
down to highlight the importance of our border and the importance of
our relationship and friendship with Mexico. First, I want to make
this clear -- somebody asked me the other day -- they asked this
question, they said, because of the war on terror, have you -- is your
interest in Mexico diminished? I said, not at all. A strong and
prosperous Mexico is good for America. (Applause.) And the best
foreign policy is a foreign policy that insists that our own
neighborhood be prosperous and peaceful and democratic.
Mexico is an incredibly important part of the futuro de los Estados
Unidos. (Applause.) And the border, la frontera, is a very important
part of our relationship. It is essential that Americans understand
the nature of this border. And that's why I'm going to be going to a
border crossing point to make this point: On the one hand, we want the
legal commerce, the people who travel back and forth on a daily basis,
the brothers and sisters on both sides of the border, the relatives
that have been coming back and forth for years, to be able to do so in
an efficient and easy way. We want that kind of traffic, that kind of
border crossing to be done in an expeditious way. It's good for Juarez
and it's good for El Paso, Texas. (Applause.)
Rick mentioned the amount of commerce that takes place -- the commerce
that takes place between Mexico and Texas and the United States is
good for both countries. It's good for the United States. It's good
for Mexico. And, therefore, we must work to make sure our border is
modernized so that the commerce that takes place can move more freely,
can be expedited so as it makes it easier for people to have jobs and
find work.
On the other hand, we want to use our technology to make sure that we
weed out those who we don't want in our country -- the terrorists, the
coyotes, the smugglers, those who prey on innocent life. (Applause.)
And so we're making good progress in the modernization of our border.
And that's what I'm going to go talk about today, and that's what I'm
going to highlight. I want this border to be modern; I want it to have
the very best technology. I don't want it to be a neglected part of
our country. I want it to be a place where we spend a lot of time and
focus on it, so that it works the best it can possibly work.
It also is important for our country to understand how I feel about
our neighbor to the south. First of all, I approach Mexico with the
spirit of friendship and the spirit of mutual respect and the spirit
of resolve. I want to thank the Mexican leaders -- and will do so in
person tonight -- for their steady and strong resolve in their efforts
to join us in our fight against terror, in our efforts to join us in
the fight against drug cartels, in our efforts to make sure our
relationship is as hopeful and as together as possible. (Applause.)
And so, today, I've sent up an emergency request to the United States
Congress of $27 billion, $5 billion of which will be spent on our
airports and on our borders, to make sure Americans are more secure
and more safe than ever before. (Applause.)
My most important job as your President is to protect Americans from
any attack. I think about this all the time. I walk into the Oval
Office every morning, and I sit at this fantastic desk that Teddy
Roosevelt sat at, that Franklin Roosevelt sat at, John Kennedy sat at,
Ronald Reagan sat at. These are -- (applause) -- imagine what it feels
like for a fellow from Midland, Texas. It's an honor. But every
morning I read about potential threats to America. And I take them
seriously, and so should we all. And that's why we're working hard to
make the border work better. That's why we're working hard to beef up
our Coast Guard, so that our ports are more secure. That's why we take
every single threat seriously.
If we get any kind of hint, any kind of nudge that the evil ones may
be coming after us, I can assure you we're reacting. We're sharing
information the likes of which we've never shared before. Our
country's on alert, and our governments -- the federal, the state, and
the local governments -- are doing everything we can -- I mean
everything we can -- to protect the homeland.
But I also want you to know -- (applause) -- but I want you to know
how I feel. The best way to protect the homeland, the best way to make
sure Americans can grow up in a peaceful country, is to find
terrorists wherever they hide and bring them to justice. And that's
what we're going to do. (Applause.)
We're in for a long struggle, and I think Texans understand that. And
so do Americans. We're a united people. We're a resolved people,
because we understand that we fight for something we hold dear, and
that is our freedoms. (Applause.)
Sometimes it seems like the terror threat may be going away. But all
you've got to do is look on your TV today, be reminded about how evil
these murderers are. Today we had a terrible suicide bombing in
Israel, and innocent lives were lost. And there was one in Peru
yesterday, where people lost their life. And this morning, Laura and I
met Milton Green and his son, who lost a wife and a mother when they
were going to church, when they were praying to the Almighty God, and
a suicide killer came in in Pakistan and took their lives.
This is a dangerous world. Too many people are losing their lives to
murderers. History has called us into action. We cannot let the
terrorists take over freedom-loving societies, and we will not.
(Applause.)
America will fight terror wherever we find it, and as well, we will
call upon leaders around the world to do so, as well. Mr. Arafat must
do more to stop violence in the Middle East. (Applause.) And I want to
assure you all the Secretary of State and I will remind leaders of
their obligation to defend innocent people; of their obligation to
stamp out terrorists wherever they light; of their obligation to make
sure they uphold this doctrine: If you harbor a terrorist, if you hide
a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
terrorists themselves. (Applause.)
And if you're interested in knowing what that means, just ask the
Taliban. (Applause.) Thanks to our mighty United States military --
(applause) -- and thanks to our vast coalition, we upheld that
doctrine.
But I'm proud of this. Our country and our friends do not seek
revenge; we seek justice. (Applause.) And we sent brave, brave U.S.
soldiers into Afghanistan not as conquerors, but as liberators.
(Applause.) It may be hard for some of the youngsters here to believe,
but the government that we just routed in Afghanistan would not let
young girls go to school. That changed. This week, young girls will be
going to school for the first time, because we got that barbaric
regime out of power. (Applause.)
And we're not stopping. And we're not stopping. And that's why I
submitted the largest increase in defense spending in two generations
to the United States Congress. (Applause.) We can't afford to stop,
for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. And I expect the
United States Congress to honor my request for this important reason
-- any time we put a U.S. soldier into harm's way, we expect that
soldier to have the best equipment, the best training, an additional
pay raise. (Applause.)
I know it's a lot of money -- I know it's a lot of money, my request.
But let me just tell you this -- I want to remind you all, we fight
for freedom. This country stands strong for freedom. And we will not
relent to any terrorist who think they can take our freedom or the
freedom from anybody else in the world away from us. (Applause.) And,
therefore, the budget I submitted to Congress, while it may be high,
the price of freedom is never too high, as far as I'm concerned.
(Applause.)
I ask for your patience and unity because I understand the nature of
the enemy we fight. They've got these leaders over there that are
willing to send youngsters to their suicidal death, and they try to
find a cave they can hide in. There's no cave deep enough for American
justice. (Applause.)
It doesn't matter for me how long it takes. It doesn't matter how long
it takes. We're going to hunt them down one by one and bring them to
justice. (Applause.) If they bunch up again in Afghanistan like they
did in the Shahikot mountain range, we'll send our soldiers in there.
(Applause.) The last time they bunched up, they didn't like the
results. No matter where they light, we're going to get 'em. We're
going to treat them for what they are -- international terrorists. And
we're going to keep them on the run.
It is in the interests not only of our country, but the interest of
the world, that our nation be steady and strong and determined. And
you can bet, so long as I am your President, we will be determined and
steady and strong, and defend our freedom with all our might.
(Applause.)
I believe this: I believe as a result of our being strong, and steady,
and determined, the world will be more peaceful after we rout out
these terrorist killers. I believe we have a chance to solve some
problems around the world that some people had given up hope on. I
believe that the United States, by leading our coalition, can lead the
world to a more peaceful tomorrow.
And that's my goal. And that's my dream. Out of our strength, and out
of our resolve, will come a peaceful tomorrow for children who not
only live in America, but children who live all across the world.
And I want to tell you one other thing I believe about America, is out
of this evil will come some incredible good. I believe -- (applause)
-- I believe strongly that the evil ones didn't know who they were
attacking. They thought we would -- they thought we would roll over.
They thought we were so materialistic and self-absorbed that we
wouldn't respond. They probably thought we were going to sue them.
(Laughter.) Not only did they not understand our resolve, but they
didn't understand that this nation is not going to let evil prevail.
They understand -- I get asked all the time -- I want you to hear me
on this -- I get asked all the time by people around America, what can
I do to help in the war on terror. I'll tell you what you can do. In
order to stand squarely in the face of evil, do some good. Love a
neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. Reach out to
somebody in need. Make sure somebody who's hungry has food; somebody
who needs love has love; somebody who needs to be taught how to read
is taught to read. You see, it's the gathering momentum of millions of
acts of kindness that will define this nation and allow us to stand
squarely in the face of evil. (Applause.)
And there's no doubt in my mind -- and there's no doubt in my mind
that the good people of El Paso, Texas, and those who live at Fort
Bliss -- (applause) -- are going to do exactly that. I know El Paso. I
know the hearts and souls of the citizens who live here. I know full
well the love and compassion that exists throughout the neighborhoods
in this great city in this part of the state.
Today, I had the honor of meeting Rosario Piedra. (Applause.) She
brought her whole family. (Laughter.) She came out to see this
magnificent Air Force One. She was there because Rosario is the kind
of person I'm talking about. She takes her obligation as a U.S.
citizen very seriously. She knows there's something more to life than
just serving yourself. She's in charge of Girl Scout troops --
(applause) -- teaching young girls values that will stay with them for
the rest of their life. She works after-school programs to help
children that need a little extra help. It is this kind of citizen
that makes our country unique and different.
I want to share with you this thought, that the most meaningful event
of September the 11th in many ways was Flight 93. I want you all to
remember what took place. On that flight were people who had been told
on their telephones that Washington and New York was under attack.
They knew their plane had been highjacked. They got on the plane and
they told their loved ones they loved them. They said a prayer. They
said, "Let's roll." And they served something greater than themselves.
They served humanity. It is that spirit of sacrifice -- it is that
spirit of serving something greater than yourself that is alive and
well and strong in our great land.
And as you love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself,
remember that you represent that spirit; you represent the best of our
country; and you join us all in standing squarely in the face of
evildoers. This great country is the finest country on the face of the
Earth. And we're going to show the world exactly that. (Applause.)
And so I want to thank you all. (Applause.) Laura and I love El Paso.
We love our friends. May God bless you all. (Applause.)
END 11:59 A.M. MST
(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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