16 November 2002
Bush Says Progress Continues to Be Made in War Against Terror
(President's weekly radio address to the nation, November 16) (680)
In his weekly radio address to the nation, President Bush says good
progress was made this week in the war against terrorism. He cites a
"crucial agreement" by senators and representatives toward the passage
of the bill creating a Cabinet-level department of homeland security.
Bush also cites various gains made in combating terror abroad.
The text of the radio address follows:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
November 16, 2002
RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This was a productive week in the war
against terror, both at home and abroad. Congress returned to
Washington with renewed energy and a commitment to make progress on
key issues. Members of the House and Senate reached a crucial
agreement to create a new department of homeland security. With
Congress' vote on the final legislation, America will have a single
agency with the full-time duty of protecting our people against
attack.
This new department will focus and unify responsibilities that are now
spread among dozens of government agencies. The Customs Service, the
INS, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
Transportation Security Administration and many others will report to
the new secretary of homeland security.
The department will significantly improve our ability to protect our
borders, our coasts, and our communities. It will pool together the
best intelligence information and coordinate our response. The new
department will help develop the technology America needs to detect
and defeat chemical, biological, and nuclear threats. And under the
agreement reached this week, I will have the authority and flexibility
to move people and resources to where they are needed without
bureaucratic rules and lengthy labor negotiations.
This compromise is the result of months of hard work and negotiation,
and it will take additional time to put the agreement into place. The
threat of terror will be with us for years to come, and we remain
resolved to see this conflict through to its end.
In the department of homeland security, we'll have good people,
well-organized and well-equipped, working day and night to oppose the
serious dangers of our time. Now that we have reached broad agreement
on a homeland security bill, I look forward to signing it into law as
soon as possible.
We're committed to defending the nation. Yet wars are not won on the
defensive. The best way to keep America safe from terrorism is to go
after terrorists where they plan and hide. And that work goes on
around the world.
The United States is working with more than 90 countries to disrupt
and defeat terror networks. So far we have frozen more than $113
million in terrorist assets, denying them the means to finance their
murder. We've cracked down on charities that were exploiting American
compassion to fund terrorists. We have captured and interrogated
thousands of terrorists, while others have met their fate in caves and
mountains in Afghanistan. We've deployed troops to train forces in the
Philippines and Yemen, the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and
other nations where terrorists have gathered. We're sending a clear
message to the enemies of freedom: No terrorist will escape the
patient justice of America.
To win the war on terror, we're also opposing the growing threat of
weapons of mass destruction in the hands of outlaw regimes. This week,
the dictator of Iraq told the U.N. he would give weapons inspectors
unrestricted access to his country. We've heard such pledges before,
and they have been uniformly betrayed. America and the world are now
watching Saddam Hussein closely. Any act of defiance or delay will
indicate that he is taking the path of deception once again, and this
time the consequences would be severe.
Our goal is not merely the return of inspectors to Iraq; our goal is
the disarmament of Iraq. The dictator of Iraq will give up his weapons
of mass destruction, or the United States will lead a coalition to
disarm him.
Our war against terrorists and their supporters is advancing on all
fronts. We're moving aggressively to protect our people and to oppose
a great threat to the peace of the world.
Thank you for listening.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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