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I tried to get as many facts as I could, Jordan, to make sure I
knew, as I was making decisions, that I knew exactly what I was basing
my decisions on. I've got a fabulous team.
[[Page 1754]]
A President can't possibly be President without a good team. It starts
with having a great wife, by the way.
And so, I got on the phone from Air Force One, asking to find out
the facts. You've got to understand, Jordan, during this period of time,
there were all kinds of rumors floating around. Some of them were
erroneous. Obviously--for example, there was a news report saying that
the State Department had been attacked. I needed to know what the facts
were. But I knew I needed to act. I knew that if the Nation's under
attack, the role of the Commander in Chief is to respond forcefully to
prevent other attacks from happening. And so, I've talked to the
Secretary of Defense; one of the first acts I did was to put our
military on alert.
An interesting thing happened shortly thereafter. Condoleezza Rice,
who was not with me but was with the Vice President because they were in
the White House compound, called me on Air Force One after that and said
that she had gotten a call from Russia, from Vladimir Putin, who
understood why we were putting our troops on alert and therefore wasn't
going to respond. That was an important phone call, because when I was
coming up, and a lot of other older-looking people here who were coming
up with me--[laughter]--that would never have happened in the past. An
alert by the United States would have caused Russia to go on alert,
which would have created a complicated situation. But that wasn't the
case.
By the way, we're heading into a new era. One of the positive things
that comes out of the evil was, we're reassessing relationships in order
to make the world more peaceful. I believe it's important for us to have
positive relations with our former enemy and to rethink the defenses of
the United States of America.
At any rate, I knew I had a job to do. And I was quoted in the press
the other day as saying I haven't regretted one thing I've decided. And
that's the truth. Every decision I made, I stand by. And I'm proud of
the decisions I've made.
Support for the Muslim Community
Q. Mr. President, peace and blessings be unto you. I'm representing
the Muslim community of Orlando. And I would really like to thank you
for being such a great role model, practicing what this country believes
in, the higher ideals that this country believes in, your support to the
Muslim community in combating racism. I am an educator; I'm a mother,
and I have a strong faith. Thank you so much for holding these values
high and trying to wipe the stereotypes that the Taliban has been
represented of Muslim women. I am an educator, educating Muslim children
in this Orlando city. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
The President. God bless. Thank you.
Listen, I've got a job to do. [Laughter] I've got to get back to my
temporary home. By the way, my address is in Washington; my home is
going to be back in Texas one of these days. But I am--I have got to go
back. I wish I could stay and answer questions all night, but I've got--
I'll be right there, ma'am. He's fine. I've got to get back and go to
work.
I can't tell you what an honor it is to have been here. I want to
thank you all for your great questions and for your incredibly warm
reception. It's a huge honor to be the greatest--to be the President of
the greatest country in the world.
God bless you all, and may God bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 3:20 p.m. in the Orange County Convention
Center. In his remarks, the President referred to President Fidel Castro
of Cuba; Mayor Glenda E. Hood of Orlando; Governor Jeb Bush of Florida;
Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the
Palestinian Authority; James P. Hoffa, Jr., general president,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters; and President Vladimir Putin of
Russia.
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Week Ending Friday, December 7, 2001
Statement on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards
December 4, 2001
I am honored to bestow the National Institute of Standards and
Technology's Baldrige Award on businesses and schools which have
[[Page 1755]]
set a standard for quality. These winners remind us that excellence in
all organizations strengthens our Nation.
I am especially pleased that this year's awards include the first
Baldrige education winners. They illustrate that the quality of
education for children can be improved with innovative programs. These
organizations demonstrate that improving the quality of education for
all children is everyone's business.
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Week Ending Friday, December 7, 2001
Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on the National Emergency
With Respect to the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
December 4, 2001
To the Congress of the United States:
As required by section 204(c) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c), and section 401(c) of the
National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), I transmit herewith a 6-
month periodic report on the national emergency with respect to the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that was declared in
Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994.
George W. Bush
The White House,
December 4, 2001.
Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
December 5.
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Week Ending Friday, December 7, 2001
Message to the Congress on the National Emergencies With Respect to the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and Kosovo
December 4, 2001
To the Congress of the United States:
As required by section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50
U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c), I transmit herewith a combined
6-month periodic report on the national emergencies declared with
respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in
Executive Order 12808 on May 30, 1992, and Kosovo in Executive Order
13088 on June 9, 1998.
George W. Bush
The White House,
December 4, 2001.
Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
December 5.
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Week Ending Friday, December 7, 2001
Remarks Following a Meeting With Republican National Committee Chairman
Marc Racicot
December 5, 2001
The President. I had the honor of, first, thanking Jim Gilmore for
his service to the Republican Party. I asked Jim to take on an
assignment. He did it, and he did it well. And for that, I'm grateful.
We talked about a week ago, and he said he wanted to spend more time
with his family, and he wanted to prepare for his transition out of
public service as Governor of Virginia. The people of the Commonwealth
of Virginia know what I know, that he's an honorable public servant who
served our State and our party well.
And to take Jim's place, I've asked my friend Marc Racicot, the
former Governor of Montana, to become the chairman of the RNC. He's
agreed, for which I'm grateful. Marc has got a history of success. He
knows how to build grassroots organizations. He's going to reach out to
members of the labor unions and the minorities, just like Jim Gilmore
did, to continue to take our positive, optimistic message to people
that--in all kinds of neighborhoods around the country. He has got a
fine history of winning races, and he'll translate that into practice
come next fall, in the 2002 races. And I'm really, really pleased Marc
has agreed to take on this assignment.
I also want to welcome Ann Wagner here, the vice chairman of the
party, to the Oval Office.
I wish you all the best, Marc. Thanks for taking on the job, and I
look forward to working with you.
Q. You haven't changed your mind?
The President. I'll talk to you later.
[[Page 1756]]
Note: The President spoke at 1:10 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. James S. Gilmore III of
Virginia, former chairman, Republican National Committee. A tape was not
available for verification of the content of these remarks.
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Week Ending Friday, December 7, 2001
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of
Norway and an Exchange With Reporters
December 5, 2001
President Bush. I'm going to make a statement; the Prime Minister
will make a statement. We'll be glad to answer a couple of questions
apiece.
First, I want to welcome our friend to the White House. The Prime
Minister has been a strong supporter in the war against terror, and for
that, Mr. Prime Minister, we are very grateful.
Early on in this war, Norway stood strong against terror. I don't
know if many Americans understand, but one of the key parts of the war
against terror is to cut off the financing to the terrorists. And
Norway, thanks to the Prime Minister and his team, shut down Al
Barakaat, which we did shortly thereafter. Thanks to the information we
received from you, we made a major strike against cutting off funding
for Al Qaida and the murderers.
And Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for that. I'm so glad you're here.
I look forward to a really good discussion about how we can combine
together.
I want to say a couple of other things. First, I, along with all the
rest of America, grieve for the loss of life in Afghanistan. Three of
our soldiers were killed by an inadvertent bomb, and our prayers and
sympathies go to the families. And I want the families to know that they
died for a noble and just cause, that the fight against terror is noble
and it's just, and they defend freedom. And for that, we're grateful.
On a more encouraging note, there has been great progress in Bonn.
Our Government is pleased with the progress being made, that the interim
government is being formed--to include women. It's a major change for
that part of the world and a positive change. It's encouraging to show,
Mr. Prime Minister, that not only making progress on the military front,
we're making progress on the political front, as well. This interim
government, as well, has pledged to fight terror, and for that, we're
grateful.
And finally, next Tuesday our Nation will play the national anthem
at 8:34 a.m. eastern standard time. We will do so, and we're encouraging
other nations to play their anthems and/or appropriate tunes at about
the same time or an appropriate time, to send this clear signal to the
terrorists. They want us to be silent. They want us to shirk from our
duties. They want us to forget what took place on September the 11th. We
will not do so. The United States will not do so, and our friends and
allies will not do so. We won't forget what took place.
And we will bring them to justice. We'll bring them to justice in
Afghanistan, and we'll bring them to justice wherever they try to hide.
Civilization is at stake. And the Prime Minister of Norway and the
President of the United States stand united in protecting freedom and
civilization.
Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office.
Prime Minister Bondevik. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I want
to express my--how grateful I am that you received me here, so few weeks
after I once more took office as Prime Minister of Norway. And I also
want to express my condolences to the soldiers you lost in Afghanistan.
And I want to express my sympathy and solidarity with the American
people. We stand firmly by you in fighting terrorism. And as you are
aware of, we have also contributed--we have offered contributions to the
military operations in Afghanistan, and we will talk more about that.
And I think it's also so important to discuss the more long-term fight
against terrorism.
I also will welcome the positive outcome of the meeting in Bonn,
which I think we've paved the way for a political solution for
Afghanistan, hopefully also for the women in the country, and also for
reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid. For Norway also will
play a key role as the chair of the Afghanistan Support Group, from the
1st of January next year.
[[Page 1757]]
So I want to end up by saying that the United States is the most
important ally for Norway.
President Bush. Thank you.
Prime Minister Bondevik. We share many common fundamental values.
And now we will stand together, fighting terrorism for humanity.
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