For Immediate
Release
Office of the Press
Secretary
October 29, 2001
Remarks by the President
In Photo Opportunity with Homeland
Security Council
the Cabinet Room
3:10 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Today I had the first
official meeting of the Homeland Security Council --
Governor -- that has been chaired by -- when I'm not
here, by Governor Ridge. And as you can see,
I've assembled many of the members of my administration
here, senior members of the administration, because our
task is to do everything we can to protect the American
people from any threat whatsoever.
The American people are beginning to understand that
we fight a two-front war against terror. We
fight in Afghanistan, and I appreciate so very much the
efforts of our men and women who wear the
uniform. And we fight it at home here, to
make sure America is as safe is possible.
Along these lines, we've set up a foreign terrorist
tracking task force to make sure that the Land of the
Free is as safe as possible from people who might come
to our country to hurt people. We welcome
legal immigrants and we welcome people coming to
America. We welcome the process that
encourages people to come to our country to visit, to
study, and to work.
What we don't welcome are people who come to hurt the
American people. And, so, therefore, we're going to be
very diligent with our visas and observant with the
behavior of people who come to this country.
As an example, if a person applies for a student visa
and gets that visa, we want to make sure that person
actually goes to school; in other words, if they're
using the visas for the intended purpose.
The American people need to know that we're doing
everything we possibly can to prevent and disrupt any
attack on America, and that we're doing everything we
can to respond to attacks. And I'm proud of
the public health workers, people that report to Tommy
Thompson's agency, about their hard
work. They're working hours on
hours. And I believe that lives have been
saved as a result of their diligent efforts.
Be glad to answer a couple of
questions. Fournier, then Dave, then Stretch.
Q Mr. President, thank
you. Yesterday, there was quite a bit of talk
on Capitol Hill about the need for ground troops to step
up the military action another notch; Senator McCain,
Senator Dodd, among others. Do you think the American
public is ready for a significant number of ground
troops in Afghanistan?
THE PRESIDENT: I the most important thing
that the American people realize is that we're steady
and determined and patient, that we've got a strategy in
place to bring al Qaeda to justice, and at the same time
make it clear that any nation which harbors terrorists
will be held accountable for their decisions. And we are
implementing our strategy. And we appreciate
any suggestions people may have.
But the strategy we have at the time right now is to
use our military to dismantle Taliban defenses, use our
military to destroy al Qaeda training bases, and to work
with troops that now exist on the ground to fulfill our
mission. And I am pleased with the progress
we're making.
And I'm really pleased with the fact that the
American people are patient. They realize
this is a war the likes of which they have never seen
before. And, therefore, they are rooting on
their government and the men and women who wear the
uniform. They understand that it's going to take a while
to achieve our objective, and I appreciate that
patience.
Q Sir, since so many of the
hijackers were in the country legally, do you plan to
crack down on student visas or political asylum cases,
things of that sort?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we plan on making
sure that if a person has applied for a student visa,
they actually go to college or a university. And,
therefore, we're going to start asking a lot of
questions that heretofore have not been asked.
We're going to tighten up the visa
policy. That's not to say we're not going to
let people come into our country; of course we
are. But we're going to make sure that when
somebody comes, we understand their intended purpose and
that they fulfill the purpose that they -- on their
application.
You bring up a very good point, Steve. And
that is, that sometimes, people come here with no
intention to fulfill their purpose. And when
we find those, they will be escorted out of the United
States.
Q Mr. President, a couple of
weeks ago the FBI issued an alert indicating that within
several days the country could be attacked by terrorists
again. Does the government still believe and
have information to support the notion that Osama bin
Laden is planning a second wave of attacks, and do you
believe that all of the resources now dedicated to the
anthrax situation reduce the country's level of
preparedness?
THE PRESIDENT: We believe that the country
must stay on alert, that there is -- that our enemies
still hate us. Our enemies have no values
that regard life as precious. They're active,
and therefore, we're constantly in touch with our law
enforcement officials to be prepared.
Now, having said that, the American people must go
about their lives. And I recognize it's a fine
balance. But the American people also
understand that the object of any terrorist activity is
to cause Americans to abandon their lifestyles.
Every American is a soldier, and every citizen is in
this fight. And I am proud of our
country. Our country is united and strong,
and we're prepared. We've got ample resources
to fight the war on the home front on many
fronts. And part of our purpose of being here
is to make sure that those resources are well organized
and that fit into a strategy that this administration is
designing.
Q We have some new consumer
confidence numbers coming out tomorrow, so perhaps this
would be a better question to ask then. But
based on what you're hearing from all of the people in
this room, what is your sense of the extent which the
terrorist attacks, now the anthrax mailings, are having
on the consumer? And is it your sense that
people really are hunkering down, they're apprehensive,
they're -- are they finding it difficult to get back to
their daily routines?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven't seen the
numbers, but my view of the mood of the country is, is
that the country understands we've entered into a new
period in our history. And that there is a --
that lives are simply not going to be as normal as they
were in the past. And that so long as there
is terrorist activities in the world and aggression
toward our country, that people are going to have to be
diligent and on guard, and they are.
Now, having said that, the American people are very
patient, and they appreciate the efforts of the
government, and they appreciate the efforts of our
military. They understand better than most,
better than the world, that this is going to take a long
period of time, and they are prepared for this.
They are prepared to wait in long lines at
airports. They're prepared to support our
military. They are prepared to support local
law enforcement as local law enforcement works hard with
federal officials to disrupt any potential terrorist
activities.
And so, the mood of the country is certainly
different from what it was on September the 10th, but I
find the mood of the country to be incredibly refreshing
and strong and powerful. It is a clear
statement to anybody who would want to harm us that
instead of weakening America, they have strengthened
America.
And how that -- what that means to the economy, it
means that the -- it means that over time, our economy
is going to be just as strong as the American
spirit. And so I'm very optimistic about the
economy. How long it will take to recover to
the levels that we hope is just -- is beyond my pay
grade. But I can tell you that the people of this
country are strong and resolute, and for that I am
grateful and incredibly proud.
Last question.
Q Mr. President, we understand
this task force is to help tighten and close the
loopholes in immigration laws. Why were these
loopholes so vast, and why were they left for so
long? And also, what do you say to the
American public who is concerned about anti-American
sentiment among Americans who may have helped these
immigrants who came in and started September the 11th?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, of course, I -- you
know, our country has been an incredibly generous
country, the most generous country in the world. We're
generous with our universities, we're generous with our
job opportunities, we're generous with the beautiful
system that is, that if you come here and you work hard,
you can achieve a dream.
Never did we realize then that people would take
advantage of our generosity to the extent they
have. September the 11th taught us an
interesting lesson, that while -- by far, the vast
majority of people who have come to America are really
good, decent people, people that we're proud to have
here. There are some who are
evil. And our job now is to find the evil
ones and to bring them to justice, to disrupt anybody
who might have designs on hurting -- further hurting
Americans.
The second part of your question? Sorry.
Q The second part is about the
Americans in this country who -- some may have helped
the terrorists.
THE PRESIDENT: I think Americans who
unwittingly helped people that hurt Americans regret
that now. Americans who are willingly
participants and have plans to hurt America, they will
be brought to justice. My judgment is,
anybody who is a terrorist or helps a terrorist are
equally culpable. And so, we're doing
everything we can, obviously within the law.
And we've got now a new law that will help us pursue
those who would harm Americans and those who would help
them harm Americans. People need to be held
accountable in America, and we're going to do just that.
Thank you all.
END 3:00
P.M. EST