Remarks at the Detroit Edison Monroe plant in Monroe, Michigan: September 15, 2003

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 22, 2003

Thank you all. Please be seated, unless you don't have a seat. [Laughter] Thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate the chance to come to this vital facility to meet the workers who make it go, meet the planners who keep it modern, and meet some of the people who benefit from the electricity that's generated out of here.

I come knowing our Nation faces some great challenges. The biggest challenge we face is the security of our people. We've got to make sure that America is secure from the enemies which hate us. And we've got to make America secure by having an economy that grows so people can find work.

On the first front, to make sure America is secure, we're making good progress. The 2 years from September the 11th--we got hit. We got hit by people who cannot stand what America believes in. We love freedom, and we're not going to change. And they probably won't either. Therapy won't work with this bunch. [Laughter]

So we will bring people to justice. It doesn't matter how long it takes. America and many of our friends will find those who would harm the American people and bring them to justice. The only way to win the war on terror is to stay on the offensive. We can do a lot of things here at home. We can support our first responders. We can make sure our law enforcement agencies talk to each other. We can make sure our ports are more secure, our borders are reasonable about understanding who is coming in and why they're coming in. But the best way to make sure the homeland is secure is to hunt these killers down one by one and bring them to justice, which the United States of America will do.

As part of making sure America is secure, I laid out a doctrine that said, "If you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists. To provide money to terrorists, you're guilty, and we will hold you account." And the Taliban found out what we meant.

We gave an ultimatum to Mr. Saddam Hussein. We said, "Get rid of your weapons." He ignored not only the United States but the civilized world. That regime is no more. And one thing is for certain: No terrorist organization will ever get a weapon of mass destruction from Mr. Saddam Hussein.

Our Nation is more secure. The world is becoming more free and, therefore, more peaceful. This Nation yearns for Peace, but we understand the nature of the enemy. For those of you who have got relatives in the United States military, I want to thank you, for a grateful nation. And you thank them, on behalf of the Commander in Chief and the people of this country, for the sacrifices they are willing to make on behalf of the rest of us.

Economic security is on my mind. I'm sure the numbers are beginning to look better, but there's still people looking for work. My attitude is, so long as somebody is looking for work, then we've got to continue to try to create the conditions necessary for job growth. We want our people working. We want the morns and dads to be able to make a living, to be able to put food on the table for their children.

National security means economic security for every single citizen. And one of the lessons we learned a while ago was that a reliable, affordable electrical power is essential for economic growth in America. It's an essential part of an economic plan. If you're interested in creating jobs, you'd better have energy. You're not going to have an economy grow without reliable sources of energy.

Lights went out last month--you know that. [Laughter] It might have been good for candle sales, but it certainly wasn't good for--job growth. It recognizes that we've got an issue with our electricity grid, and we need to modernize it. We need to make sure it works in the future. The first thing we're going to do is find out what went wrong and address the problem. Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham, right here, from the State of Michigan, is leading that investigation. We want the facts. We'll put the spotlight of truth on the facts, and then we'll deal with it. But also, it's clear that the power grid needs an overhaul. It needs to be modernized. As we go into an exciting new period of American history, we want the most modern electricity grid for our people.

When I first got in in Washington, I put out a plan, a national energy strategy. I felt like we needed an energy strategy for the country. If energy is an issue, first of all you need a strategy and a plan. And we laid one out. And part of that plan modernizes--called for the modernization of the electricity grid. We need more investment. We need research and development to make sure we're--as we invest new technologies, they're the latest and best for the people of this country. We 'also want to make sure voluntary reliability standards for utilities are now mandatory reliability standards. When somebody says they're going to be reliable, we don't want it to be maybe reliable or perhaps reliable. We want mandatory reliability standards, so people can count on the deliver--to have their electricity delivered.