Remarks at the Thurgood Marshall extended elementary school

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 29, 2001

October 25, 2001

The President. Thank you all very much. Americans believe in patriotism. We don't believe in prejudice. We're determined to fight terror. That's what we're going to do. And we're equally determined to build ties of trust and friendship with people all around the world, particularly with children and people in the Islamic world.

As you all know, our Nation is at war right now. We're going to defend America and defend the values that we all hold dear. And our Nation is united in the defense of our country. We are not at war with Muslims. We don't have a beef with Muslims. We want to be friends with Muslims and Muslim children.

We're fighting evil people. It's important for the boys and girls of Thurgood Marshall to know that we're fighting evil with good. And one way to fight evil with good is, you can help by writing letters to boys and girls your age. You can let boys and girls know what you think are important. You can let boys and girls know what your dreams are, and ask them about theirs, too.

I want to thank very much the Secretary of Education for being here with me. He's a fellow Texan who is doing a great job of running the Education Department. He helps herald our number one domestic agenda item, and that is making sure every boy and girl in America gets a good education.

And he's right. We hope Congress gets the business done and gets us a good education bill. They're close; all they've got to do is work a little harder to get us a bill, one that I can sign. I'm confident they will do so with a little extra work.

I want to thank very much the principal of this fine school. Ms. Wilson, thank you so much for your hospitality. And I want to thank all the teachers who are here, as well. It's really important for all of us to thank our teachers. And I wish the First Lady were here with me, because she could thank you, too. One of the things she's trying to do is go around the country reminding people what a noble profession teaching is, and we need more people to become teachers. But thank you all for being such good role models for your children here.

I want to thank Paul Vance, as well. Gosh, it seems like I see Paul every other week. I appreciate your hard work. I want to thank the boys and girls of this school for letting me come by to say hello. It's been my honor to be able to come to Thurgood Marshall and to see all the future leaders of the country. I guess I don't need to ask; I'm sure all of you are going to be going to college, aren't you?

Students. Yes.

The President. Yes, that's good. I hope you read more than you watch TV, too. It's really important to be a good reader. But thanks for letting me come by.

We're here talking about how we can best conduct a war against evil. And you can play a part. You can be an integral part of that by establishing friendship. And I want to thank some of the adults who have helped set up programs that enable boys and girls all across America to reach out to boys and girls all across the world.

And one such person is Mary Eisenhower, who is the chief executive officer of a program called People to People. Thank you very much, Mary, for being here. She had a relative named Eisenhower, and he and I share something in common: We're both Presidents. And I appreciate you, Mary, for working here.

And I also want to thank Ed Gragert, as well, the executive director of iEARN. iEARN is the umbrella organization that's encouraging organizations to help fund and organize the effort for our schoolchildren to reach out to children, particularly in the Muslim world. Thank you for coming, as well, Ed.

And we've got Issa Al-Nashit from the country of Bahrain. Issa, thank you for coming so much. The reason he is here is that he represents a country to which you're sending letters. We were in the fourth grade class, and we had four letters read by fourth graders to fourth graders in Bahrain. And it's part of our effort to outreach to boys and girls all across the world. So I want to thank you for coming, Issa.

I'm looking forward to meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain this afternoon. It is a perfect opportunity for me to remind him that, one, we appreciate the alliances we're forming around the world with Muslim nations and non-Muslim nations. And we also remind him that we've all got to work hard to make sure we establish trust at the most basic level, and that's people to people.

And so today I'm here to announce a new initiative called Friendship Through Education. And we're going to ask schools all across the country to join with schools in other countries to spread the message that we care for each other, that we want to understand each other better.

I think the best way to attack--to handle the attacks of September the 11th is to fight fear with friendship, is to fight fear with hope, is to remind people all around the world we have much more in common than people might think, that we share basic values--the importance of family and the importance of faith and the importance of friendship.