Remarks at southwest Missouri state university in Springfield, Missouri

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 21, 2002

The world has been put on notice, Mr. Saddam Hussein is now on notice. We expect him to disarm. We expect him to live up to the obligations that he has told the world that he would meet. We expect the United Nations to be the United Nations, not the League of Nations. We expect them to join us in keeping the peace, by holding this dictator to account. That's what we expect.

No, the threats are real. It's a different era. And this country will deal with these threats in an open way and a firm way and a resolved way, because we love our freedoms. We understand the biggest obligation we have, at least the biggest obligation I have, is to do everything I can to protect the homeland. There are a lot of good people working hard to protect the homeland. Anytime we find a hint about something that might be done to America, we're moving on it. Anytime we find any evidence that somebody might be thinking about harming our country, there are a lot of folks on the case. We're disrupting; we're denying; we're doing everything we can in our power and within the United States Constitution to protect the homeland.

And that's why I went to the United States Congress and asked them to create a Department of Homeland Security, so I can tell the American people and future Presidents can tell the American people that, "We're doing everything we can to protect you--everything we can." You see, there's over 100 agencies involved with the protection of our homeland. It means they're kind of scattered about. If the number one priority of America is to protect the homeland, it seems to make sense to me to put them under one agency, so we can make that the number one priority that everybody involved with homeland security must meet.

And we're having a big debate up there about it. Sometimes in our Nation's Capital, they talk to much-[laughter]--and do too little. Sometimes they do too much when they should be talking. [Laughter]

The House passed a good homeland security bill. The House heard my call to have a bipartisan approach to protecting the homeland. The House heard the call to put aside politics and not let interests--be interested in special interests but to focus on the American people, not only today but down the road. And the House passed a bill. They're stuck in the Senate. The Senate can't get it done right now. It's stuck.

And here's the issue. The Senate is saying, "Sure, Mr. President, you can have a homeland security bill, but there's going to be a price." And here's the price. They want to roll back an important authority that every President since John F. Kennedy has had, and that authority is this: For 40 years, a President has had the capacity to suspend labor rules in every Department of Government when the national security is at stake. The President has had the capacity to be able to change rules in order to protect America.

One example of what I'm talking about, just so you'll know clearly, is that Customs agents, we thought, ought to be wearing radiological detection devices, just in case somebody tried to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into America. We thought that made sense for them to wear these. The head of the union said, "Uh-uh, that must be voluntary. You can't make anybody do that, and therefore, let's have a collective bargaining session over it," which might have taken a year's time.