Southern Maine Technical College
Hutchinson Union Building
Portland, Maine
1:15 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much for
coming. It's nice to be back in -- I guess my second
home. (Applause.) I was telling your fine
Governor, Angus King -- and thank you for being here, Angus, I'm so
honored you're here -- he said, are you going to come back next
summer? I said, I knew I should have made my bed last time I
was here. (Laughter.)
I'm not so sure my mother is going to invite me back, but I hope
she does. (Laughter.) Maine's a fabulous
state. And as the Governor knows, it's full of such decent
people. And thank you for coming out for such a warm
greeting.
I've got some things on my mind, and I want to share them with the
good people of Maine. First, I want to tell you, I've got a
great Cabinet. I'm so proud of the way our team has
responded. A leader is only good as his
team. (Applause.)
I brought two members of my Cabinet with me: Secretary
Mineta, and when I picked him out of the ranks, he was a --
he served in the previous administration as the Commerce Secretary,
he's a proud Democrat -- but he showed America really what he
is. He's a proud American, and he's done a fabulous
job. (Applause.)
And I knew I needed somebody who knew something about local
government to run the Homeland Security office, somebody who had been
an administrator, a chief executive officer, and somebody who could
organize a massive task. And I picked the right man when it
came to the former Governor of Pennsylvania, my very close friend, Tom
Ridge. (Applause.)
And one thing the world is learning, something I already knew,
we've got a fabulous military run by fine people. Admiral
Loy, thank you for your leadership. I appreciate
it. (Applause.)
I was supposed to bring two other folks with me today. I
think you've heard of them: Snowe and
Collins. (Applause.) They missed the
flight. (Laughter.) For good reason -- they were
working on behalf of the people of Maine. They had some
votes to cast.
But I will tell you, these two fine ladies are good to work with,
strong for the support of the state of Maine and great
patriots. I'm proud of their service to our country and I
want to thank you for sending them to Washington,
D.C. (Applause.)
And I know a congressman -- one of the two congressman from your
state, John Baldacci, is here. John, where are
you? Thank you for coming. I appreciate you being
here, as well. (Applause.)
First, I want to talk about the Coast Guard. Now, you
probably think I've had a sweet spot in my heart for the Coast Guard
because when I spend the night at 41's house down the coast --
(laughter) -- I wake up and see the Cutter sitting out there.
(Laughter.) Well, that has some good reason why I support
the Coast Guard so strong.
But I saw how the Coast Guard has responded after 9/11 and I know
how important the Coast Guard is for the safety and security and the
well-being of our American citizens.
This is a fine group of people, who don't get nearly as much
appreciation from the American people as they
should. (Applause.) And I'm here today to say
thanks, on behalf of all the citizens who appreciate the long hours you
put in, the daring rescues you accomplish and the fine service you
provide to our country. Oh, yes, we're on guard in America.
But the Coast Guard has got more missions than
that. Admiral Loy told me that right off the cost of my
state, of Texas, the Coast Guard enacted one of the largest marijuana
busts in history just the other day. Right off the east
coast.
The Coast Guard chopper, the Coast Guard crew from Air Station Cape
Cod -- Coast Guardsmen who I had a chance to thank personally today --
rescued five fishermen from a 74 foot fishing vessel called the Covered
Wagon, that sank in heavy seas. Five human souls returned
back to land because of the bravery of people who wear the Coast Guard
uniform. (Applause.)
Such bravery is not an isolated event. After all, this
story was repeated 4,000 times last year. The Coast Guard,
the men and women who accomplish the mission, seized over 60 tons of
cocaine last year. They responded to over 11,000 oil
spills. They're working around the globe with the Department
of Defense.
Today, the Coast Guard is conducting maritime intercept operations
in the Persian Gulf, and providing waterside security in Guantanamo
Bay.
Earlier today, I had the pleasure of going on board the Tahoma, the
Coast Guard vessel that was the command vessel on site in New York
Harbor the day the enemy hit us. They stayed there for 40
days, on alert 24 hours a day, making sure that not only the traffic
flowed smoothly, but the people were safe. (Applause.)
When it comes to securing our homeland, and helping people along
the coast, the Coast Guard has got a vital and significant
mission. And, therefore, the budget that I send to the
United States Congress will have the largest increase in spending for
the Coast Guard in our nation's history. (Applause.)
We must make sure that our Coast Guard has got a modern fleet of
vessels. We must make sure that port security is as strong
as possible. We must make sure there's additional operating
money available for the extended missions of the Coast
Guard. And we must make sure those who wear our uniforms are
well paid. (Applause.)
I'll have other priorities in my budget. One of the
biggest, of course, is to make sure the homeland is
secure. You know, none of us ever dreamt that we'd have a
two-front war to fight: one overseas and one at
home. But we do. That's reality. And
as a result, we must respond, and continue to respond, and stay on
alert, and help defend America. The biggest chore I have, my
biggest job, is to make sure our homeland is
secure. (Applause.)
Every morning I go into the Oval Office, and what a thrill it is to
walk into that grand office. And I sit at the desk that
other Presidents have sat at, Roosevelt, Reagan. And I look
at the -- I look at a threat assessment. The enemy still
wants to hit us. And, therefore, this nation must do
everything in our power to prevent it.
And so when I speak to the Congress next Tuesday night and I submit
my budget, one of the top priorities will be the security of the
homeland. I've asked for a doubling of homeland security
funds, to $38 billion a year. Money that will be spent to
make sure that the federal government and the state government and the
local governments -- and I know some mayors are here -- work in a
cooperative way to make sure that our first-responders -- the police,
the fire, the emergency medical teams -- have the best equipment, the
best training, the best ability to communicate with each other to
protect the American people. (Applause.)
In this budget, we will make sure that our health systems are more
modern and more responsive; that we stockpile needed medicines, so that
they'll be easily accessible at the call of a governor or the call of a
mayor; that we've got money in the budget for research and development
to stay ahead of what the enemy may try to use; that our public health
systems have got the best communications possible and the ability to
respond quickly.
In this budget, under Norm Mineta's leadership, we are securing our
airports, we're modernizing the equipment, we're sending more people
into our airports to make sure that travelers get the best service and
the most safe flight humanly possible.
And under this budget, we're spending $11 billion for controlling
of our borders. It is so important for our nation to work
with our friends to the north, Canada, and our friend to the south,
Mexico, on border initiatives -- that one doesn't tie up commerce but,
on the other hand, prevents illegal drugs, terrorists, arms from
flowing across our border.
Tom Ridge went up to Canada -- and I know the Governor will
appreciate this, since you've got such a huge border with Canada -- he
went up with Canada and were talking about a new border initiative with
our friends. We're analyzing every aspect of the border and
making sure that the effort is seamless, the communication is real,
that the enforcement is strong.
And so, to this end, I've got a 29 percent increase in the budget
of the INS, to make sure we modernize our reporting data, to know who
comes in our country and who leaves our country. (Applause.)
Forty percent -- 40 percent -- the INS estimates that 40 percent of
the people who are here illegally have overstayed their
visa. Forty percent of the people who are here illegally
came because of the generosity of America; were given a period of time
in which they could stay, and then they didn't leave.
And one of the things we want to make sure of is we find the 40
percent to make sure they're not part of some al Qaeda network that
wants to hit the United States. (Applause.) And
so we're looking, we're listening, we're following every single
lead. I'm proud of our FBI. We've got a fine man
running the FBI, named Robert Mueller.
When Mueller first came in, the main task of the FBI was running
down crime -- which is great -- white-collar crime or watching for
spies. And those are all important missions.
But I'm proud to report to you now the number one mission of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation is to prevent another attack on
America. We're going to add agents onto the
payroll. (Applause.)
We're going to add agents on our payroll, all aimed to making sure
that not only do we find leads, but when we find a lead, we chase them
down as quickly as possible.
There is nothing more important for me and the federal government
to do everything within the Constitution of the United States -- and I
emphasize we will not let the terrorists tear down our Constitution --
(applause) -- we will do everything within the Constitution to protect
the innocent Americans, the innocent moms and dads, the people who
yearn for freedom and normalcy in their life.
We're working overtime, and I'm proud of the American people and
I'm proud of the people who are working to protect the American
people. (Applause.) We're going to beef-up
Customs. We're on alert.
But I want to assure you, I know this: that the best way
to secure freedom in America, the best way to make sure we're a
peaceful nation, the best way to ensure that our children can grow up
in a world that a lot of us older folks grew up in -- one that was
pretty calm, pretty peaceful at home, one that was secure -- the best
way to accomplish this dream and mission is to find the enemy where
they hide, to rout them out and to bring them to
justice. And that's exactly what our nation is going to
do. (Applause.)
It wasn't all that long ago that I asked the military to perform a
vital function. We've been at this for about four-and-a-half
months. Oh, for some people it may seem like a long time,
but it's not very long when you think about the magnitude of the task.
But in four-and-a-half months we've accomplished a lot, we really
have -- because we've got such a fabulous military. We
routed out the Taliban. You see, I told the world -- I told
the world that if you harbor a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, if
you feed a terrorist, you're a terrorist, and you're going to pay a
price. (Applause.)
Our men and women in uniform are brave, and they're skilled, and
they must have all our support. So in the budget I asked for
to the United States Congress has got the most significant increase in
military spending in the last 20 years. The price of victory
is well worth it. (Applause.)
And you know what makes me so proud of America? In the
process of holding the Taliban accountable, in the process of defending
freedom, our troops became liberators. We liberated women
and children from the clutches of one of the most repressive regimes in
the history of mankind. We rid women and children of the
evils of the Taliban regime. (Applause.)
But I want to explain to the American people that we must be
patient. We've just started, and there's a lot to
do. We've entered into a dangerous phase of the first
theater in the war against terror. And that is, we're now
hunting them down.
We've got teams on the ground that are going
cave-to-cave. You see, this enemy is one that's willing to
send their young on suicide missions, while they, themselves, hide in
caves. But there's no cave deep enough for the reach of the
American military. We're patient, we're deliberate, and
we're going to bring them to justice, one person at a
time. (Applause.)
I want to remind you all that our mission is not one person, our
mission is terror wherever it exists. I'm proud we've got a
strong coalition, a coalition that our country leads, a coalition bound
up to protect freedom, a coalition that I hope will take every step
necessary to find terrorists where they live, and help us bring them to
justice.
You know, when the enemy hit us, they must have not known what they
were doing. I like to tell people, they must have been
watching too much TV, because they didn't understand
America. (Laughter.) They were watching some of
those shows, that one can get the wrong impression about how
materialistic we might be, how selfish we might be as a people.
But that's not the way we are. Not only are we patient
and determined and resolute to defend values we love, starting with the
value of freedom, this good nation understands that in order to fight
evil, you do so with acts of kindness and goodness.
People say to me, what can I do, Mr. President, to
help? And my answer is, if you want to fight evil, do
something good in your neighborhood. If you want to fight
evil, be a part of the goodness of the country, by loving a child who
may have lost a parent, by walking across the street to a shut-in and
say, somebody cares about you.
If you want to be a part of the war against terror, go to your
church or synagogue and mosque, and ask the question, how can we love a
neighbor in need, and then feed somebody. If you want to be
a part of the war on terror, help a teacher, get involved with your
public education, mentor a child.
You see, the great strength of America is not only our
military. The true strength of America is the million acts
of kindness and decency and compassion that define the soul and
character of our country on a daily basis. (Applause.)
No, when the enemy struck us, little did they realize that out of
the terrible evil would come such good. Our job is not only
to win the war overseas, our job is not only to protect the homeland,
to make sure we can live peacefully; our job is to fight evil on a
daily basis, by loving a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself.
And that's what happening all across the country. And
for those of you who do that, I want to thank you from the bottom of my
heart. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my
heart. And I want to thank you for giving me a chance to be
the President of the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
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