THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. Thanks
for the warm welcome. It's a pleasure to be back here in Salt Lake City,
Utah. And I'm proud to again stand with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Thanks for having me. (Applause.)
I really enjoy coming to these conventions. Members here come from
all walks of life and you do vital work across our country. I know
firsthand the spirit of the VFW. I was raised by one of your members --
(applause) -- a proud veteran of Post 4344 in Houston, Texas, former
President George Bush. (Applause.) Where is that mighty Texas
delegation? (Applause.) Behaves yourselves. (Laughter.)
I'm honored to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States
Armed Forces. The men and women who wear the uniform today are
protecting our nation and our way of life. And they are upholding a
tradition of honor and bravery and integrity set by America's veterans.
All of you defended this country with unselfish courage. You've earned
the respect of our citizens. And so, on behalf of a grateful nation,
thank you for your service for the cause of freedom and peace.
(Applause.)
I appreciate John Furgess. I appreciated working with him for the
past year. He's a good, honorable man, and he's represented the VFW with
distinction and class. It takes judgment to be the President of an
organization. And so when I first saw John this morning, I realized he
was a man of good judgment. He said, "You've got to understand, Mr.
President, most of the people are really excited to see Laura."
(Laughter and applause.) I'm proud she's traveling with me. I'm proud to
call her wife. And a lot of folks in this United States of America are
proud to call her First Lady. (Applause.)
And I'm pleased the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is with us today,
Ranger vet, a man who is doing a fine job on behalf of the veterans
across the United States, Secretary Jim Nicholson. (Applause.)
When I landed out there at the airport, I was greeted at the base of
the stairs by the Governor of this great state, Governor Jon Huntsman.
And I appreciate you being here, Governor. And I want to thank your
wife, Mary Kaye, for joining, as well. There she is. Hi, Mary Kaye. I
know the Lieutenant Governor, Gary Herbert is with us, and Jeanette.
Appreciate you being here, Lieutenant Governor.
I got on Air Force One down there in Waco, and they told me that we
had a special guest on our plane. I said, well, who is it? They said,
well, it's Orrin Hatch. I said, fantastic, glad to give the fellow a
ride. (Laughter.) And the reason why I'm glad to give him a ride, he's a
strong ally, and I appreciate a strong ally in Orrin Hatch. He does a
great job for Utah, and he does a great job for the United States of
America. (Applause.)
I appreciate Congressman Chris Cannon joining us today. Thank you for
being here, Congressman -- and Congressman Jim Matheson -- I'm proud you
both are here. Thanks for taking time to be here today. (Applause.)
They must have changed the immigration laws here in Utah, because
they allowed the Idaho Governor to come across the border. (Laughter.)
I'm proud to be here with my friend, Dirk Kempthorne. Thank you for
coming, Dirk. (Applause.) I want to thank the Senior Vice Commander, Jim
Miller, for his hospitality. I'm looking forward to working with him. I
want to thank JoAnne Ott, the outgoing National VFW Ladies Auxiliary
president. And I want to thank Sandy Germany, who will be the incoming
president. (Applause.)
Most of all, thank you all. As veterans of foreign wars, you stepped
forward when America needed you. You took an oath to defend the nation,
and you kept that oath, overseas and under fire. You triumphed over
brutal enemies, liberated continents, and answered the prayers of
millions across the Earth. All of us who have grown up in freedom must
never forget your service and your sacrifice.
We also remember the troops who left America's shores, but did not
live to make the journey home. We think of the families who lost a loved
one, and who carry a burden of grief that remains for a lifetime. We
remember the men and women in uniform whose fate is still undetermined,
our prisoners of war and those missing in action. America must never
forget them. We will not stop searching until we have accounted for
every soldier, sailor airmen and Marine missing in the line of duty.
(Applause.)
VFW's mission is to honor the dead by helping the living, and VFW
members are making good on that promise every day. Together with your
superb Ladies Auxiliary, VFW members have -- (applause) -- VFW members
have adopted military units, mentored youth groups, assisted in blood
drives, and provided countless services to fellow veterans and their
families. When you hear the name VFW, you know a certain type of work is
being done -- honorable, decent, and faithful to the nation's highest
ideals.
In war and in peace, America's veterans set an example of
citizenship, and we honor your devotion to duty and to our country. All
of America's veterans have placed the nation's security before their own
lives. Your sacrifice creates a debt that America can never really fully
-- fully repay.
Yet there are certain things the government can do. My administration
remains firmly committed to serving America's veterans. Since I took
office my administration, in working with the United States Congress,
has increased spending for veterans by $24 billion, an increase of 53
percent. In my first four years as President -- (applause) -- in my
first four years as President, we increased spending for veterans more
than twice as much as the previous administration did in eight years.
(Applause.)
Health care is a top priority for our veterans and it's a top
priority for my administration. The past four years, we've increased the
VA medical care budget by 51 percent, and we're using those resources to
make real improvements for our veterans. Over the past four years, we've
increased total outpatient visits from 44 million to 55 million. We've
increased the number of prescriptions filled from 98 million to 116
million. Since January 2002, we've reduced the backlog of disability
claims by 20 percent. Claims are now being processed 68 days faster. By
the end of this year, we plan to cut another 15 days on the average
turnaround time. (Applause.)
We place a special focus on treating men and women returning from
combat, and veterans with service disabilities and lower incomes and
special needs. In the last two years, we've committed more than $1.5
billion to modernizing and expanding VA facilities, so more veterans can
get care closer to their homes. My administration is helping the
veterans who fought and sacrificed for America to get the quality care
they deserve.
We're also getting results for veterans beyond the health care
system. For more than a century, federal law prohibited disabled
veterans from receiving both their retired pay and their VA disability
compensation. Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans deserve
better, and I was honored to be the first President in more than 100
years to sign concurrent receipt legislation. (Applause.)
We've also expanded grants to help homeless veterans in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. No veteran who served in the blazing heat
or bitter cold of foreign lands should have to live without shelter in
the very country whose freedom they fought for. (Applause.) You defended
our flag in uniform; you continue to defend the flag today.
I share the VFW's strong support for a constitutional amendment to
protect the American flag. (Applause.) In June, the House of
Representatives voted to ban flag desecration, and I urge the United
States Senate to pass this important amendment this year. (Applause.)
At this hour, a new generation of Americans is defending our flag and
our freedom in the first war of the 21st century. The war came to our
shores on the morning of September the 11th, 2001. Since then the
terrorists have continued to strike -- in Bali, in Riyadh, in Istanbul,
and Madrid, and Baghdad, and London, and Sharm el-Sheikh and elsewhere.
The enemy, the terrorists, are ruthless and brutal. They're fighting on
behalf of a hateful ideology that despises everything America stands
for.
Our enemies have no regard for human life. They're trying to hijack a
great religion to justify a dark vision that rejects freedom and
tolerance and dissent. They have a strategy, and part of that strategy
is they're trying to shake our will. They kill the innocent. They kill
women and children, knowing that the images of their brutality will
horrify civilized peoples. Their goal is to drive nations into retreat
so they can topple governments across the Middle East, establish
Taliban-like regimes, and turn that region into a launching pad for more
attacks against our people. In all their objectives, our enemies are
trying to intimidate America and the free world. And in all their
objectives, they will fail. (Applause.)
Like the great struggles of the 20th century, the war on terror
demands every element of our national power. Yet this is a different
kind of war. Our enemies are not organized into battalions, or commanded
by governments. They hide in shadowy networks and retreat after they
strike. After September the 11th, 2001, I made a pledge, America will
not be -- will not wait to be attacked again. We will go on the offense
and we will defend our freedom. (Applause.)
We have a comprehensive strategy to win this war on terror. It
includes three parts -- protecting this homeland, taking the fight to
the enemy, and advancing freedom. The first part of our strategy is to
protect America. We're reforming our intelligence services to stay ahead
of our enemies and to rout out terror cells before they strike. We're
using our diplomatic and financial tools to cut off the terrorists'
financing and to drain them of their support. We've more than tripled
funding for homeland security since September the 11th, 2001. We've
provided more than $14 billion to train and equip state and local first
responders. Many of our police officers and firefighters and first
responders are veterans, and America is grateful for their dedication to
keeping this country safe. (Applause.)
One of the most important tools we have to protect America is called
the USA Patriot Act. This good law permits our intelligence and law
enforcement communities to share information. It gives our law
enforcement officers many of the same tools to fight terror that they
already use to fight drugs and street crime. The Patriot Act is fully
consistent with the United States Constitution, and as a result of that
act, we're getting results. Our law enforcement intelligence officers
have used the Patriot Act to help break up terror cells and support
networks in California and New York and Ohio and Illinois and Virginia
and Florida and other states.
Key provisions of the Patriot Act are scheduled to expire at the end
of this year. Yet the terrorist threat to our country will not expire at
the end of this year. When the House and Senate return from their
recess, they need to send me a bill to renew the Patriot Act.
(Applause.)
All these steps to protect the homeland have made it safer, but we're
not yet safe. Terrorists in foreign lands still hope to attack our
country. They still hope to kill our citizens. The lesson of September
the 11th, 2001, is that we must confront threats before they fully
materialize. (Applause.)
Vast oceans and friendly neighbors are not enough to protect us. A
policy of retreat and isolation will not bring us safety. The only way
to defend our citizens where we live is to go after the terrorists where
they live. (Applause.)
So the second part of our strategy is to take the fight to the
terrorists abroad before they can attack us here at home. This is the
most difficult and dangerous mission in the war on terror. And like
generations before them, our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines
have stepped forward to accept the mission. They've damaged the al Qaeda
network across the world and we're going to keep the terrorists on the
run. From Afghanistan to Iraq, to the Horn of Africa, our men and women
in uniform are bringing our enemies to justice and bringing justice to
our enemies.
Our goal is clear: to secure a more peaceful world for our children
and grandchildren. We will accept nothing less than total victory over
the terrorists and their hateful ideology. (Applause.)
Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. It is a vital part of
our mission. Terrorists like bin Laden and his ally, Zarqawi, are trying
to turn Iraq into what Afghanistan was under the Taliban, a place where
women are beaten, religious and ethnic minorities are executed, and
terrorists have sanctuary to plot attacks against free people.
Terrorists are trying to block the rise of democracy in Iraq, because
they know a free Iraq will deal a decisive blow to their strategy to
achieve absolute power. The Iraqi people lived for three decades under
an absolute dictatorship, and they will not allow a new set of would-be
tyrants to take control of their future.
The response -- (applause) -- the people of Iraq have made a clear
choice for all to see. In spite of threats and assassinations, more than
eight million citizens defied the car bombers and killers and voted in
free elections. (Applause.) In spite of violence, the Iraqi people are
building a nation that secures freedom for its citizens and contributes
to peace and stability in that region.
Now Iraq's leaders are once again defying the terrorists and
pessimists by completing work on a democratic constitution. The
establishment of a democratic constitution will be a landmark event in
the history of Iraq and the history of the Middle East. All of Iraq's
main ethnic and religious groups are working together on this vital
project. All made the courageous choice to join the political process,
and together they will produce a constitution that reflects the values
and traditions of the Iraqi people.
Producing a constitution is a difficult process that involves debate
and compromise. We know this from our own history. Our Constitutional
Convention was home to political rivalries and regional disagreements.
The Constitution our founders produced has been amended many times over.
So Americans understand the challenges facing the framers of Iraq's new
constitution. We admire their thoughtful deliberations; we salute their
determination to lay the foundation for lasting democracy amid the ruins
of a brutal dictatorship.
As Iraqis continue to take control of their own future, we will help
them take responsibility for their own security. The enemies of a free
Iraq are determined. They are adapting their tactics so they can take
more innocent life. American and Iraqi forces are adapting our tactics,
too. We're on the hunt, side-by-side with Iraqi troops. We're working to
defeat the terrorists together. As we hunt down our common enemies, we
will continue to train more Iraqi security forces so they can take on
more responsibilities in fighting the terrorists. After all, it's their
own country.
Our military is strategy is straightforward: As Iraqis stand up,
Americans will stand down. And when Iraqi forces can defend their
freedom by taking on more and more of the fight to the enemy, our troops
will come home with the honor they have earned. (Applause.)
In the long run, victory in the war on terror requires changing the
conditions that give rise to violence and extremism. So the third part
of our strategy in the war on terror is to spread the hope of freedom
across the broader Middle East. Free societies are peaceful societies.
By standing with those who stand for their liberty, we will lay the
foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren.
As we work to spread freedom in the Middle East we have cause for
optimism. The rise of liberty in Iraq is part of a wider movement in the
region. The tide of freedom ebbs and flows, but it is moving in a clear
direction, and freedom's tide is rising in the broader Middle East.
In Afghanistan, men and women have formed a free government after
suffering one of the most brutal tyrannies on Earth. America is proud to
call Afghanistan an ally in the war on terror. In Lebanon, people took
to the streets to demand their sovereignty. They have now gone to the
polls and voted in free elections. As freedom takes root in these
countries it is inspiring democratic reformers in places like Egypt and
Saudi Arabia. Across the region, a new generation desires to be free,
and they will have it. And the world will be more peaceful because of
it. (Applause.)
In the heart of the Middle East a hopeful story is unfolding. After
decades of shattered promises and stolen lives, peace is within reach in
the Holy Land. The Palestinian people have expressed their desire for
sovereignty and peace in free and fair elections. President Abbas has
rejected violence and taken steps toward democratic reform. This past
week, Prime Minister Sharon and the Israeli people took a courageous and
painful step by beginning to remove settlements in Gaza and parts of the
northern West Bank. The Israeli disengagement is an historic step that
reflects the bold leadership of Prime Minister Sharon.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have elected governments committed to
peace and progress, and the way forward is clear. We're working for a
return to the road map. We're helping the Palestinians to prepare for
self-government and to defeat terrorists who attack Israel, and
terrorists who oppose the establishment of a peaceful Palestinian state.
We're providing $50 million in direct assistance to the Palestinians for
new housing and infrastructure projects in Gaza. We remain fully
committed to defending the security and well-being of our friend and
ally, Israel, and we demand an end to terrorism and violence in every
form, because we know that progress toward peace depends on an end to
terror.
We'll continue working for the day when the map of the Middle East
shows two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side
in peace and security. (Applause.)
As more nations replace tyranny with liberty and replace hatred with
hope, America will be more secure. Our nation has accepted a mission,
and we're moving forward with resolve. Spreading freedom is the work of
generations, and no one knows it better than you. Freedom has contended
with hateful ideologies before. We defeated fascism; we defeated
communism; and we will defeat the hateful ideology of the terrorists who
attacked America. (Applause.)
Each of these struggles for freedom required great sacrifice. From
the beaches of Normandy to the snows of Korea, courageous Americans gave
their lives so others could live in freedom. Since the morning of
September the 11th, we have known that the war on terror would require
great sacrifice, as well. We have lost 1,864 members of our Armed Forces
in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 223 in Operation Enduring Freedom. Each
of these men and women left grieving families and loved ones back home.
Each of these heroes left a legacy that will allow generations of their
fellow Americans to enjoy the blessings of liberty. And each of these
Americans have brought the hope of freedom to millions who have not
known it. We owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave
their lives for. We will honor their sacrifice by staying on the
offensive against the terrorists, and building strong allies in
Afghanistan and Iraq that will help us win and fight -- fight and win
the war on terror. (Applause.)
As veterans of foreign wars, you know that the rise of liberty is
critical to our national security. You understand the power of freedom
because you've witnessed it with your own eyes. In a single lifetime,
many of you have seen liberty spread from Germany and Japan to Eastern
Europe, to Latin America, to Southeast Asia and Africa and beyond.
You've seen that democracies do not fight each other, and that
liberation leads to peace. With your courage and commitment to freedom,
you have lifted lives of millions around the globe, and you made this
country and our world more secure.
The generation of men and women who defend our freedom today is
taking its rightful place among the heroes of our nation's history. Once
again, America has found patriots who are selfless and tireless and
unrelenting in the face of danger. Once again, the American people have
been steadfast and determined not to lose our nerve. And once again, we
have confidence in our cause, because we know that freedom is the future
of every nation, and that the side of freedom is the side of victory.
I want to thank you for the example you have set for all who wear our
nation's uniform. I want to thank you for your bravery and your decency.
May God bless this nation's veterans, and may God continue to bless the
United States of America. (Applause.)