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.