Speech to Congress by President Bush, 9-20-01

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, ... THE WORLD

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, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank 
you for your friendship, for 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 80 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. I'm so honored the British prime minister has 
crossed an ocean to show his unity with America. Thank you for coming friend.


    
WHO ATTACKED OUR COUNTRY?

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 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 USS 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.


    
WE MAKE THE FOLLOWING DEMANDS ON THE TALIBAN

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.


    
WE RESPECT MUSLIMS

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 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.


    
HOW WILL WE WIN THIS WAR?

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.


    
CREATION OF A CABINET-LEVEL POSITION

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 
American security: a military veteran, an effective governor, a true patriot, a trusted friend, 
Pennsylvania's 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 of 
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.


    
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US?

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.


    
WE WILL COME 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 r
esolve 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.


    
I WILL NOT YIELD

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.