BUSH: Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore,
members of Congress, and
fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events, presidents come to
this chamber to report on
the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is
needed. It has already
been delivered by the American people.
We have seen it in the courage of passengers who
rushed terrorists to save
others on the ground. Passengers like an
exceptional man named Todd Beamer.
And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa
Beamer here tonight?
(APPLAUSE)
We have seen the state of our Union in the
endurance of rescuers working
past exhaustion. We've seen the unfurling of
flags, the lighting of candles,
the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in
English, Hebrew and Arabic.
We have seen the decency of a loving and giving
people who have made the
grief of strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the
entire world has seen for
itself the state of union, and it is strong.
(APPLAUSE)
Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and
called to defend freedom.
Our grief has turned to anger and anger to
resolution. Whether we bring our
enemies to justice or bring justice to our
enemies, justice will be done.
(APPLAUSE)
I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an
important time. All of
America was touched on the evening of the tragedy
to see Republicans and
Democrats joined together on the steps of this
Capitol singing "God Bless
America."
And you did more than sing. You acted, by
delivering $40 billion to rebuild
our communities and meet the needs of our
military. Speaker Hastert,
Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle
and Senator Lott, I thank
you for your friendship, for your leadership and
for your service to our
country.
(APPLAUSE)
And on behalf of the American people, I thank the
world for its outpouring
of support. America will never forget the sounds
of our national anthem
playing at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of
Paris and at Berlin's
Brandenburg Gate.
We will not forget South Korean children gathering
to pray outside our
embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy
offered at a mosque in Cairo.
We will not forget moments of silence and days of
mourning in Australia and
Africa and Latin America.
Nor will we forget the citizens of 80 other
nations who died with our own.
Dozens of Pakistanis, more than 130 Israelis, more
than 250 citizens of
India, men and women from El Salvador, Iran,
Mexico and Japan, and hundreds
of British citizens.
America has no truer friend than Great Britain.
(APPLAUSE)
Once again, we are joined together in a great
cause.
I'm so honored the British prime minister had
crossed an ocean to show his
unity with America.
Thank you for coming, friend.
(APPLAUSE)
On September the 11th, enemies of freedom
committed an act of war against
our country. Americans have known wars, but for
the past 136 years they have
been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday
in 1941. Americans have
known the casualties of war, but not at the center
of a great city on a
peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise
attacks, but never before on
thousands of civilians.
All of this was brought upon us in a single day,
and night fell on a
different world, a world where freedom itself is
under attack.
Americans have many questions tonight. Americans
are asking, "Who attacked
our country?"
The evidence we have gathered all points to a
collection of loosely
affiliated terrorist organizations known as al
Qaeda. They are some of the
murderers indicted for bombing American embassies
in Tanzania and Kenya and
responsible for bombing the USS Cole.
Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime.
But its goal is not making
money, its goal is remaking the world and imposing
its radical beliefs on
people everywhere.
The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic
extremism that has been
rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority
of Muslim clerics; a
fringe movement that perverts the peaceful
teachings of Islam. The
terrorists' directive commands them to kill
Christians and Jews, to kill all
Americans and make no distinctions among military
and civilians, including
women and children.
This group and its leader, a person named Osama
bin Laden, are linked to
many other organizations in different countries,
including the Egyptian
Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
There are thousands of these terrorists in more
than 60 countries. They are
recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods
and brought to camps in
places like Afghanistan where they are trained in
the tactics of terror.
They are sent back to their homes or sent to hide
in countries around the
world to plot evil and destruction.
The leadership of Al Qaeda has great influence in
Afghanistan and supports
the Taliban regime in controlling most of that
country. In Afghanistan we
see Al Qaeda's vision for the world. Afghanistan's
people have been
brutalized, many are starving and many have fled.
Women are not allowed to
attend school. You can be jailed for owning a
television. Religion can be
practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can
be jailed in Afghanistan
if his beard is not long enough.
The United States respects the people of
Afghanistan -- after all, we are
currently its largest source of humanitarian aid
-- but we condemn the
Taliban regime.
(APPLAUSE)
It is not only repressing its own people, it is
threatening people
everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and
supplying terrorists. By aiding
and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is
committing murder. And tonight
the United States of America makes the following
demands on the Taliban.
Deliver to United States authorities all of the
leaders of Al Quaeda who
hide in your land.
(APPLAUSE)
Release all foreign nationals, including American
citizens you have unjustly
imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats
and aid workers in your
country. Close immediately and permanently every
terrorist training camp in
Afghanistan. And hand over every terrorist and
every person and their
support structure to appropriate authorities.
(APPLAUSE)
Give the United States full access to terrorist
training camps, so we can
make sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or
discussion.
(APPLAUSE)
The Taliban must act and act immediately.
They will hand over the terrorists or they will
share in their fate.
I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims
throughout the world. We
respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many
millions of Americans and
by millions more in countries that America counts
as friends. Its teachings
are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil
in the name of Allah
blaspheme the name of Allah.
(APPLAUSE)
The terrorists are traitors to their own faith,
trying, in effect, to hijack
Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many
Muslim friends. It is not
our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical
network of terrorists and
every government that supports them.
(APPLAUSE)
Our war on terror begins with Al Qaeda, but it
does not end there. It will
not end until every terrorist group of global
reach has been found, stopped
and defeated.
(APPLAUSE)
Americans are asking "Why do they hate
us?"
They hate what they see right here in this
chamber: a democratically elected
government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They
hate our freedoms: our
freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our
freedom to vote and assemble
and disagree with each other. They want to
overthrow existing governments in
many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia
and Jordan. They want to
drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to
drive Christians and Jews
out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.
These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but
to disrupt and end a way
of life. With every atrocity, they hope that
America grows fearful,
retreating from the world and forsaking our
friends. They stand against us
because we stand in their way.
We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.
We have seen their kind before. They're the heirs
of all the murderous
ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing
human life to serve their
radical visions, by abandoning every value except
the will to power, they
follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and
totalitarianism. And they will
follow that path all the way to where it ends in
history's unmarked grave of
discarded lies.
(APPLAUSE)
Americans are asking, "How will we fight and
win this war?"
We will direct every resource at our command --
every means of diplomacy,
every tool of intelligence, every instrument of
law enforcement, every
financial influence, and every necessary weapon of
war -- to the destruction
and to the defeat of the global terror network.
Now, this war will not be
like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a
decisive liberation of
territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look
like the air war above
Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were
used and not a single
American was lost in combat.
Our response involves far more than instant
retaliation and isolated
strikes. Americans should not expect one battle,
but a lengthy campaign
unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include
dramatic strikes visible
on TV and covert operations secret even in
success. We will starve
terrorists of funding, turn them one against
another, drive them from place
to place until there is no refuge or no rest.
And we will pursue nations that provide aid or
safe haven to terrorism.
Every nation in every region now has a decision to
make: Either you are with
us or you are with the terrorists.
(APPLAUSE)
>From this day forward, any nation that
continues to harbor or support
terrorism will be regarded by the United States as
a hostile regime. Our
nation has been put on notice, we're not immune
from attack. We will take
defensive measures against terrorism to protect
Americans.
Today, dozens of federal departments and agencies,
as well as state and
local governments, have responsibilities affecting
homeland security. These
efforts must be coordinated at the highest level.
So tonight, I announce the
creation of a Cabinet-level position reporting
directly to me, the Office of
Homeland Security.
And tonight, I also announce a distinguished
American to lead this effort,
to strengthen American security: a military
veteran, an effective governor,
a true patriot, a trusted friend, Pennsylvania's
Tom Ridge.
(APPLAUSE)
He will lead, oversee and coordinate a
comprehensive national strategy to
safeguard our country against terrorism and
respond to any attacks that may
come.
These measures are essential. The only way to
defeat terrorism as a threat
to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and
destroy it where it
grows.
(APPLAUSE)
Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI
agents, to intelligence
operatives, to the reservists we have called to
active duty. All deserve our
thanks, and all have our prayers.
And tonight a few miles from the damaged Pentagon,
I have a message for our
military: Be ready. I have called the armed forces
to alert, and there is a
reason.
The hour is coming when America will act, and you
will make us proud.
(APPLAUSE)
This is not, however, just America's fight. And
what is at stake is not just
America's freedom.
This is the world's fight. This is civilization's
fight. This is the fight
of all who believe in progress and pluralism,
tolerance and freedom.
We ask every nation to join us.
We will ask and we will need the help of police
forces, intelligence service
and banking systems around the world. The United
States is grateful that
many nations and many international organizations
have already responded
with sympathy and with support -- nations from
Latin America to Asia to
Africa to Europe to the Islamic world.
Perhaps the NATO charter reflects best the
attitude of the world: An attack
on one is an attack on all. The civilized world is
rallying to America's
side. They understand that if this terror goes
unpunished, their own cities,
their own citizens may be next. Terror unanswered
can not only bring down
buildings, it can threaten the stability of
legitimate governments.
And you know what? We're not going to allow it.
(APPLAUSE)
Americans are asking, "What is expected of
us?"
I ask you to live your lives and hug your
children.
I know many citizens have fears tonight, and I ask
you to be calm and
resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.
I ask you to uphold the values of America and
remember why so many have come
here.
We're in a fight for our principles, and our first
responsibility is to live
by them. No one should be singled out for unfair
treatment or unkind words
because of their ethnic background or religious
faith.
(APPLAUSE)
I ask you to continue to support the victims of
this tragedy with your
contributions. Those who want to give can go to a
central source of
information, Libertyunites.org, to find the names
of groups providing direct
help in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The thousands of FBI agents who are now at work in
this investigation may
need your cooperation, and I ask you to give it. I
ask for your patience
with the delays and inconveniences that may
accompany tighter security and
for your patience in what will be a long struggle.
I ask your continued
participation and confidence in the American
economy. Terrorists attacked a
symbol of American prosperity; they did not touch
its source.
America is successful because of the hard work and
creativity and enterprise
of our people. These were the true strengths of
our economy before September
11, and they are our strengths today.
(APPLAUSE)
And finally, please continue praying for the
victims of terror and their
families, for those in uniform and for our great
country. Prayer has
comforted us in sorrow and will help strengthen us
for the journey ahead.
Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you
have already done and for
what you will do.
And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I thank
you, their
representatives, for what you have already done
and for what we will do
together. Tonight we face new and sudden national
challenges.
We will come together to improve air safety, to
dramatically expand the
number of air marshals on domestic flights and
take new measures to prevent
hijacking.
We will come together to promote stability and
keep our airlines flying with
direct assistance during this emergency.
(APPLAUSE)
We will come together to give law enforcement the
additional tools it needs
to track down terror here at home.
(APPLAUSE)
We will come together to strengthen our
intelligence capabilities to know
the plans of terrorists before they act and to
find them before they strike.
(APPLAUSE)
We will come together to take active steps that
strengthen America's economy
and put our people back to work.
Tonight, we welcome two leaders who embody the
extraordinary spirit of all
New Yorkers, Governor George Pataki and Mayor
Rudolf Giuliani.
(APPLAUSE)
As a symbol of America's resolve, my
administration will work with Congress
and these two leaders to show the world that we
will rebuild New York City.
(APPLAUSE)
After all that has just passed, all the lives
taken and all the
possibilities and hopes that died with them, it is
natural to wonder if
America's future is one of fear. Some speak of an
age of terror. I know
there are struggles ahead and dangers to face. But
this country will define
our times, not be defined by them.
As long as the United States of America is
determined and strong, this will
not be an age of terror. This will be an age of
liberty here and across the
world.
(APPLAUSE)
Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered
great loss. And in our
grief and anger we have found our mission and our
moment.
Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human
freedom, the great
achievement of our time and the great hope of
every time, now depends on us.
Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark
threat of violence from our
people and our future. We will rally the world to
this cause by our efforts,
by our courage. We will not tire, we will not
falter and we will not fail.
(APPLAUSE)
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead
life will return almost to
normal. We'll go back to our lives and routines
and that is good. Even grief
recedes with time and grace.
But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will
remember what happened that
day and to whom it happened. We will remember the
moment the news came,
where we were and what we were doing.
Some will remember an image of a fire or story or
rescue. Some will carry
memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this. It is the police shield of
a man named George Howard
who died at the World Trade Center trying to save
others.
It was given to me by his mom, Arlene (ph), as a
proud memorial to her son.
It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task
that does not end.
(APPLAUSE)
I will not forget the wound to our country and
those who inflicted it. I
will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent
in waging this struggle
for freedom and security for the American people.
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its
outcome is certain.
Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always
been at war, and we know
that God is not neutral between them.
(APPLAUSE)
Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient
justice, assured of the
rightness of our cause and confident of the
victories to come.
In all that lies before us, may God grant us
wisdom and may he watch over
the United States of America.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
