Remarks at Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 13, 2002

May 8, 2002

The President. Thank you very much for that warm welcome. I'm--it is an honor for me to be here. I want to thank you for the invitation. As you can tell, I'm going to spend a little time talking about education, and a good place to talk about education and educational excellence is in centers of excellence. Rufus King International High is a center of excellence. So is Clarke Street Elementary, and I appreciate the invitation.

As my friend the Secretary of Education said, he is traveling around the country to spread the word that we passed new legislation in Washington, DC, new education reform. I'm honored to join him here in the great State of Wisconsin as part of his tour. His job is to implement the law as quickly as possible so that no child is left behind, and I want to thank Rod for his hard work.

You know, I picked him because he was a superintendent of schools in Houston, Texas, a tough school district. But he believed every child could learn; he believed in setting high standards. He worked hard; he made a huge difference on the frontlines of education. So, instead of picking somebody who knows the theory of education or somebody who talks the philosophy of education, I actually picked somebody who did the work of education. And he's doing a great job.

I want to thank your Governor for traveling with me today--it's an honor to be in the presence--who has made public education his top priority. I want to thank Scott Walker, the executive-elect of Milwaukee. I appreciate Dr. Spence Korte, who is the superintendent here in Milwaukee Public Schools. I want to thank Jeff Spence, president of School Board District Two, for being here. Jeff, thanks for coming. Of course, I want to thank your fine principal for inviting me here, Andy Meuler. I want to thank Keith Posley as well, who is the principal at Clarke Street. I'm fixing to go over to Clarke Street with Keith. I'm looking forward to it. I appreciate you being here.

I want to thank the students for inviting me. I appreciate you giving me the chance to be here. I guess some of you all are about to graduate. [Applause] Don't get carried away. It hasn't happened yet. [Laughter] I noticed the fine teachers at this school were clapping when I said that. They want you paying attention.

And by the way, I do want to thank the teachers--I'm going to spend a little more time on the teachers later--but you know, you can't have a high school as good as this unless you've got great teachers. And I want to thank the great teachers who are here.

The reason I mentioned the class getting ready to graduate is because you're the first high school class to have graduated in a long time in a time of war. You're the first high school class to have graduated with America under attack. And I want to talk a little bit about that today.

You need to know, as citizens--all of us need to know that we're in for a long struggle. We're in for a struggle to defend our freedom and to defend our values. These aren't political values; these aren't the values of one political party or another. These are the values of all Americans, the values that believe that freedom is important and essential: Freedom to worship the way we want to worship, the freedom to speak your mind, except when the President is speaking--[laughter]--the freedom of the press--freedom. And our freedoms are under attack by people who hate America because of our freedoms. And we're not going to let them hurt America again. We will do everything in our power.

This isn't the kind of war that you're used to studying in the textbooks. This is a kind of war we've never seen before. We face a group of international killers--and that's what they are--who are kind of a--hide in caves, and they're not necessarily an organized government. And they're on the run, and we're going to keep them on the run.

It's just important for you to know--it's important for you to know that this nation does not seek revenge; we seek justice. We seek justice. It's going to take a while, and you need to know that as well. But the good news for America--and the bad news for the enemy--is that I'm patient, and America's patient. I'm determined, and America's determined. We're a united country, particularly when it comes to defending that which we value, that which we hold dearly.

It's important for you all to understand that when our country speaks, that we mean it, and we do what we say. I said, either you're with us, or you're against us. I meant that. The good news is, there's a lot of nations with us; a lot of governments understand what is at stake. Civilization is at stake. We cannot allow terrorists to determine the fate of our respective nations.

I also made it clear that we were going to do everything possible to deny sanctuary--that means places to train, places to recruit, places to--places from which to fight--deny sanctuary to the terrorists. And we did that. Thanks to a mighty United States military and our coalition, we threw out a barbaric regime.