[House Document 107-122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-122
AN ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
THE TEXT OF REMARKS IN AN ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
September 21, 2001.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
89-011 WASHINGTON : 2001
To the Congress of the United States:
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. Please help me to welcome
his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonight.
We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of
rescuers, working past exhaustion. We have 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 our Union--and it is
strong.
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.
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 forty
billion dollars to rebuild our communities and meet the needs
of our military.
Speaker Hastert and Minority Leader Gephardt . . .
Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott . . . I thank you for
your friendship and your leadership and your service to our
country.
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, and 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 eighty 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. Once
again, we are joined together in a great cause. The British
Prime Minister has crossed an ocean to show his unity of
purpose with America, and tonight we welcome Tony Blair.
On September the eleventh, 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 know 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-Qaida.
They are the same murderers indicted for bombing American
embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for the
bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.
Al-Qaida 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 Usama bin Ladin--
are linked to many other organizations in different countries,
including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan.
There are thousands of these terrorists in more than sixty
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-Qaida has great influence in
Afghanistan, and supports the Taliban regime in controlling
most of that country. In Afghanistan, we see al-Qaida'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. 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 the leaders of al-
Qaida who hide in your land.
Release all foreign nationals--including American
citizens--you have unjustly imprisoned, and 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 in their support structure, to appropriate authorities.
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.
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 is 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. 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.
Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida, but it does not end
there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global
reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.
Americans are asking: Why do they hate us?
They hate what we 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 are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have
seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous
ideologies of the twentieth 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,
and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path
all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of
discarded lies.
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 disruption and defeat of the global
terror network.
This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade
ago, with its decisive liberation of territory and its 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 seen. It may include
dramatic strikes, visible on television, 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 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. 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 are 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 America's security--a
military veteran, an effective Governor, a true patriot, and my
trusted friend, Pennsylvania's Governor Tom Ridge. 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. But the only way to defeat
terrorism as a threat to our way life is to stop it, eliminate
it, and destroy it where it grows.
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.
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 services, 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 we will not allow it.
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 are 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.
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 eleventh, and they are our strengths
today.
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.
We will come together to give law enforcement the
additional tools it needs to track down terror here at home. We
will come together to strengthen our intelligence capabilities
to know the plans of terrorists before they act, and find them
before they strike.
We will come together to take active steps that strengthen
America's economy, and put our people back to work.
Tonight we welcome here two leaders who embody the
extraordinary spirit of all New Yorkers: Governor George
Pataki, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As a symbol of America's
resolve, my Administration will work with the Congress, and
these two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New
York City.
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.
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 a dark threat of violence from our people and our
future. We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts
and by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and
we will not fail.
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 fire, or a story of
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, as a
proud memorial to her son. This is my reminder of lives that
ended, and a task that does not end.
I will not forget this wound to our country, or those who
inflicted it. I will not yield--I will not rest--I will not
relent in waging this struggle for the freedom and security of
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.
Fellow citizens, we will 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.
George W. Bush.
The White House, September 20, 2001.