Remarks to employees of The Printer, Inc., in Des Moines

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 4, 2002

March 1, 2002

Well, thanks for that warm welcome. It's nice to be back in Iowa. I spent some quality days here in Iowa. [Laughter] I used to tell people that Iowa was the friendliest State that I campaigned in, and I want to thank you for the hospitality, coming back as your President.

I appreciate the Governor being here. Governor, thanks for taking time. We had the honor of hosting the Governors--the national Governors at the White House last Sunday night. I'd just gotten in from China, rented my tux, and had the Governors over. [Laughter] But it was good to see your Governor, and thanks for being here. I'm honored you're here.

And I also appreciate so many friends and members of the Iowa House who are here. I see my friend Mary Kramer. I see the speaker. I want to thank you both for coming. I want to thank all the members. I hope the Governor is doing everything you tell him to do. [Laughter] That's not the way it's supposed to work.

I appreciate very much Leonard Boswell, the Congressman, for being here, and I want to appreciate my friend Tom Latham, as well, for traveling with me--two fine Members of the United States Congress. Anyway, I thank all the elected officials for coming. I appreciate a chance to say hello.

I also want to thank the Benskins for inviting me here. I didn't realize Bill--I guess the employees probably didn't realize it either--he's such a silver-tongued devil. [Laughter]

But I appreciate so very much the chance to visit with Bill and some of the employees. Let me tell you what my first impression is, is that this is a company that deeply cares about the people who work here. And Bill and Marty understand that if you treat the folks that work with you well, you'll more likely have a good product, that if you care about the future of the people who are doing the work for your company, the company is going to have a culture of success. And I could feel that instantly when I came here, and I want to congratulate the Benskins.

See, small business is the lifeblood of the American economy. Most new jobs are created in small businesses. I'm a big believer in the entrepreneurial spirit. I'm a big believer in understanding that the role of Government is not to create wealth but an environment in which small businesses can flourish and people like the Benskins can realize their dream and, in turn, provide good, steady, honorable employment for the people who work in this company. So I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come and talk about security.

Before I talk about retirement security, I see people wearing our uniform--the uniform--and I've got to talk about national security from a defense perspective. I submitted a budget to the United States Congress that sets this priority: We will defend freedom at any cost.

The budget I submitted says basically this: If you wear the uniform of the United States of America and you're fighting to defend our freedom, you deserve the best equipment, the best training, another pay raise. And Congress best heed that call.

We're in for a long and difficult struggle when it comes to fighting terrorists. It's long and difficult because, unlike other wars, these kind of faceless folks, nameless folks hide and burrow into countries that may be weak. They hide in the caves. These are the kinds of people who send young advocates, young believers to their suicide, and they, themselves, hide.

When they attacked our country, they really didn't understand America. They thought we were soft. They thought we had a culture that was so materialistic that nobody in this land would be willing to sacrifice for something greater than ourselves. And they made a huge mistake.

I made it absolutely clear to the world, a couple of points: One, that if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists who attacked America, and you'll be held accountable. And that's exactly what happened to the Taliban. They wish they'd never heard of America.

But our country showed up not as conquerors but as liberators. Our United States military liberated a nation from the most barbaric--one of the most barbaric regimes history has shown, and now young girls get to go to school, and women are free. And I can't tell you how proud I am of the efforts of the United States military in Afghanistan.

I also made it clear to our coalition and our country that this is a new kind of war, that we've got to think about our children's future, that we can't rest until we have routed out terrorists wherever they try to hide, wherever they think they can accumulate and gather to hurt us again.

Listen, we're doing everything we can to protect the homeland of the country. Our law enforcement is on alert. Our FBI has got thousands of agents now chasing down every possible lead, every hint. Every opportunity to make the country safe, we're seizing it. We've got a national strategy in place to have a good first-time responders initiative. I know the Governor is working on that, along with local law enforcement officials, to make sure that if we're attacked, there is a good response mechanism in place. We're working on a bioterrorism initiative. We're strengthening our borders. We're going to have a better understanding of who's coming in and who's going out of the United States of America. And we've got better intelligence-sharing. We're doing everything we can.