Text of President Bush's Address Before a Joint Meeting of Congress
September 21, 2001
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 $40 billion 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 Sept. 11, 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 the same murderers indicted for bombing
American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible
for the bombing of the U.S.S. 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 and 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. 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
Qaeda 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 Qaeda, 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 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 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.
These measures are essential. But 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.
Many will be involved in this effort, from F.B.I. 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 F.B.I. 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 Sept. 11, 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.
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